Education
School reopening awaits decision from the highest level, says state minister
State Minister for Primary and Mass Education Zakir Hossain said schools, closed since March last year due to Covid-19 pandemic, will be reopened after getting directives from the highest level of the government.
“We can’t reopen the schools suddenly. We have taken all-out preparations and if the Prime Minister orders us today we are prepared to reopen schools from tomorrow,” he told reporters at the Secretariat.
Zakir said experts favour reopening of schools as the students are out of classes for the past one and half years.
“We also face problems in online,” he said.
Also read: Schools, colleges asked to prepare for reopening, guidelines issued
Schools, colleges asked to prepare for reopening, guidelines issued
The education authorities have issued some guidelines as part of preparations to reopen educational institutions which have remained closed since March last year due to Covid pandemic.
The teachers of primary schools have been instructed to return to their work places from Tuesday.
Read:SSC, HSC exams either in Nov or Dec next: Education Minister
The Primary Education Directorate asked the upazila/thana education officers to inspect the schools their jurisdiction within a week.
Besides, it also gave instructions to keep the institutions clean and tidy by taking utmost care to prevent dengue.
The primary school authorities were instructed to prepare their wash block accordingly.
Besides, the Directorate of Secondary & Higher Education (DSHE) asked the regional directors to take necessary preparations to reopen schools and colleges.
According to education ministry sources, most of the teachers and staffers of the educational institutions have been vaccinated.
Read:Educational institutions to remain closed until July 31, says govt
Besides, sources within the University Grants Commission claimed that around 80 % students of Dhaka University got their Covid jabs.
However schools will reopen only after the covid positivity rate comes below 5 %, said a source of the education ministry.
In that case, the closure of schools might be extended again.
Director of DSHE professor Shahedul Kabir Chowdhury said the regional directors were asked to inspect and submit a report on the final preparations on resuming academic activities at educational institutions.
Director General of the Directorate of Primary Education Alamgir Md Mansurul Alam said teachers have been told to return to schools.
Read:WB approves $191mn credit for Bangladesh’s education sector
"We also instructed our officials to visit institutions and submit a report on preparations to reopen. Failure to do so will result in administrative actions," he added.
The government shut down educational institutions on March 17, last year after the country reported its first Covid-19 cases on March 8.
Then the closure was extended several times until August 31 this year.
AKDN builds on over 3 decades of "excellence in education" in Bangladesh
The Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) on Saturday said they are in the process of establishing a new centre of educational excellence in Dhaka – The Aga Khan Academy.
This is being done in line with the renewed protocol of cooperation signed between the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) and the Government of Bangladesh.
The Aga Khan has recently established a single agency, the Aga Khan Schools (AKS), which embraces both the Aga Khan Academies and the Aga Khan Education Services schools globally.
Read IPDC Extends Partnership with NEF Sports Academy
The agency is consolidating its future education activities in Bangladesh around the Aga Khan Academy Dhaka, said the AKDN on Saturday.
Designed to international standards, the Aga Khan Academy Dhaka will also offer an award winning campus built to accommodate 1,200 students, with residential facilities on an 18-acre site.
Students and teachers will have access to purpose-built facilities and abundant green spaces for learning, recreation, sports and the arts.
Read Aga Khan Academy set to develop future leaders for Bangladesh
The Academy in Dhaka will be the fourth in the global network of 18 Aga Khan Academies, joining those in Mombasa (Kenya), Hyderabad (India) and Maputo (Mozambique).
The Academy plans to welcome the first cohort of students in July 2022, thereby continuing the AKDN’s tradition of providing outstanding educational services in Bangladesh for more than three decades.
Applications can be made to 25 US universities through GRC
GRC Services Limited has launched an online university application site for Bangladeshi students who want to study in US universities.
Through this site, one can apply to 98 universities, including 25 tier-one ones of the US. Some of these universities are issuing I-20 without accepting fees. Besides, all the universities are accepting tuition fees after getting student visas.
Read:‘Bangabandhu Corner’ set up at Seoul National University Library
The rate of students willing to study abroad is growing. To meet this demand, GRC has been working since 2013 to ensure easy admission with scholarships for Bangladeshi students in the best universities in the world.
Through the GRC website, students can easily apply to the universities of their choice. One can submit the application fee with any bank and mobile banking service in Bangladesh.
Also, Bangladeshi students are now getting the opportunity to live in the US permanently after finishing their studies. Now most of the universities have STEM programmes through which the students will get the opportunity to work for 2-3 years after the completion of the programme.
In addition, if a student gets a permanent job contract during this period, he or she will be eligible for permanent residency.
Read: Bangabandhu Corner to be established at Lovely Professional University in Punjab
"We have entered into agreements with 25 tier-one university authorities and have agreements with 98. Students who apply through our site also receive the highest percentage of scholarships. There are also many more facilities for them," said Mohammad Mozammel Haque Titu, managing director of GRC.
GRC prepares students to meet the requirements of the universities, and students can pay their application fees from home through the GRC website as it accepts all sorts of bank and mobile financial services, according to a press release.
RU teacher takes in-person symbolic class to protest long closure
An associate professor of mass communication and journalism at Rajshahi University on Monday took a symbolic class under a campus tree protesting the prolonged Covid-induced closure of educational institutions.
Prof. Abdullah Al Mamun took the class on relation between media and power at around 11 am in front of the Rabindranath Tagore academic building of the university.
On Friday he declared in a Facebook post to meet the students under a tree from the following week if classrooms don’t open immediately.
Also read: RU to hold exams scrapped in 2019, 2020 in-person from this month
A total of 15 students from different departments were present in the class maintaining corona hygiene rules.
RU Anthropology teacher associate professor Bokhtiar Ahmed and Folklore department associate professor Amirul Islam appeared in the class and delivered speeches.
Amirul declared to take classes from next Tuesday saying symbolic classes seek to send a message to the government to open the educational institutions maintaining hygiene rules immediately.
Also read: Rajshahi University BCL locks up VC
Abdullah termed the government plan aon the opening the educational institutions illogical.
Professor Dr Rasheda Akhtar appointed new treasurer of JU
Dr Rasheda Akhtar, professor of Anthropology department and Dean of Social Sciences faculty of Jahangirnagar University, has been appointed as new treasurer of the university.
Communication officer of the University, Professor Dr Mohmmad Mohiuddin confirmed the decision to UNB Tuesday.
Also read: Prof Imdadul made new VC of JnU
Dr Rasheda Akhtar will be substituting former treasurer Professor Monjurul Islam, he said.
Covid surge in Bangladesh: Primary schools to remain shut until Aug 31
Amid the recent spike in Coronavirus, the government has extended the closure of primary schools and kindergartens across Bangladesh until August 31 to protect students from virus infections.
The decision in this regard was taken on Friday, said a handout came from the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education.
The handout said students have to abide by health guidelines and regulations issued from time to time by the Prime Minister's Office, Cabinet Division, Ministry of Public Administration and Health Services Department.
Also read: Covid-19 in Bangladesh: Schools, colleges to remain closed until Aug 31
The government has also extended the closure of secondary and higher secondary-level educational institutions until August 31.
Covid situation in Bangladesh
As the Delta variant of Covid-19 engulfed the country, Bangladesh recorded 239 more deaths caused by the virus in 24 hours till Thursday morning.
Besides, 15,271 new people came out Covid positive during the period after the test of 52,282 samples, according to a handout issued by the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
The fresh cases took the country’s Covid death tally to 20,255 today while the caseload to 1,226,253.
The country has been seeing nearly 200 deaths a day for the past two weeks, shattering the records of daily cases and deaths almost every other day.
Also read: Reopening of schools cannot wait: UNICEF, UNESCO
Meanwhile, the daily test-positivity rate declined slightly to 29.21% from Wednesday's 30.12% while the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends a 5% or below rate.
However, the case fatality rate remained unchanged at 1.65 % during the period, said the DGHS.
Khulna University reschedules academic calendar
The academic calendar for the first term of all undergraduate and postgraduate courses at Khulna University has been rescheduled.
The decision was taken at a virtual meeting, chaired by Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Mamud Hossain, on Thursday.
In view of the second wave of the Covid pandemic, the university authorities have also made changes to some decisions taken on June 29.
Also read: Prof Mahmood Hossain new Vice-Chancellor of Khulna University
The new decisions include taking review classes, training on integrated online-offline exams and carrying out model tests on the same from August 1 to August 26.
According to the authorities, preparatory leave for examinations will be given from August 29 to September 11. The final exams of the first term will be taken online-offline from 12 September to 21 October.
The results are to be declared between October 23 and November 8.
Also read: Protest at Rajshahi University against removal of Khulna University teachers
Deans of all schools, acting registrar (Acting), heads of all disciplines, the director of the Institute of Education and Research, and the director of Student Affairs were present at the meeting.
Covid-19 in Bangladesh: Schools, colleges to remain closed until Aug 31
The government has again extended the closure of secondary and higher secondary-level educational institutions until August 31 due to the worsening Covid-19 situation in the country.
The decision was taken considering the safety of students, teachers and staffers in consultation with the National Advisory Committee on Covid-19, said an official release signed by MA Khair, public relations officer of the Education Ministry on Thursday.
Earlier, Education Minister Dr Dipu Moni said the government had decided to reopen educational institutions, particularly the primary, secondary and higher secondary ones, in Bangladesh on June 13 if the Covid-19 situation does not deteriorate.
Later, the government announced the extension of closure of schools and colleges till July 31, and the Education Ministry issued a notice in this regard.
The government shut educational institutions on March 17 last year after the country reported its first Covid-19 cases on March 8.
Read: Covid-19: Bangladesh lowers vaccination age to 25
The closure was extended several times after that.
On February 22, the education minister announced that university classes would resume on May 24. Residential halls were also scheduled to be reopened on May 17. But that did not happen due to the worsening pandemic.
Covid situation in Bangladesh
As the Delta variant of Covid-19 engulfed the country, Bangladesh recorded 239 more deaths caused by the virus in 24 hours till Thursday morning.
Besides, 15,271 new people came out Covid positive during the period after the test of 52,282 samples, according to a handout issued by the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
The fresh cases took the country’s Covid death tally to 20,255 today while the caseload to 1,226,253.
Read: Covid in Bangladesh: Daily toll remains above 200; 15,271 more infected
The country has been seeing nearly 200 deaths a day for the past two weeks, shattering the records of daily cases and deaths almost every other day.
Meanwhile, the daily test-positivity rate declined slightly to 29.21% from Wednesday's 30.12% while the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends a 5% or below rate.
However, the case fatality rate remained unchanged at 1.65 % during the period, said the DGHS.
UCB to organize free workshop on digital skills with Monash College Australia
Universal College Bangladesh (UCB), the exclusive partner of Monash College, Australia, will arrange a free student development workshop for Bangladeshi students.
The workshop titled ‘Digital Skills for a Great Career and Higher Education’ will be conducted on July 30, from 11 am to 12 pm and the attendees will receive a joint certificate of participation from Monash College and UCB. The virtual workshop on the zoom platform will be conducted by Dr. Shannon Rios, Manager, Education Strategy, Learning and Teaching, Monash College Diplomas, Monash College.
Read: Microsoft helps 60,000-plus Bangladeshis gain digital skills amid Covid-19
The facilitator will shed light on different topics such as digital literacy (adaptability and comfortability in digital space), higher education expectations (Moodle, online classes) and future digital skills (3D printing, app development, web design) etc.
This expert-curated online workshop is an endeavor from Universal College Bangladesh to enlighten the learners about myriads of digital skills that will help them excel in their careers and succeed in higher education.
Read: Guterres encourages girls to master digital skills
UCB is an STS Group venture. Dr. Sandeep, Group CEO of STS Group said, “This workshop will definitely be an exciting opportunity for those who want to remain ahead of the times by acquiring time-befitting digital skills.”
Registration for this limited seat-workshop can be done by visiting the link - https://tinyurl.com/UCB-SDP3. Details regarding it can be found on the website (www.UCBbd.org) and Facebook pages (facebook.com/MonashUCB).