Many parents still not sending children to schools, minister says

Education Minister Dipu Moni has said the government is yet to ascertain the number of dropped out students due to a long closure amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We’re receiving assignments from over 90 per cent of students. That means they’ve not dropped out. Many parents are still not sending their children to schools out of fear and so the presence of students in schools is not cent per cent,” she said.

The minister came up with the statement while speaking at a programme at Shilpakal Academy in the town marking the Community Policing Day, reports UNB.

“The number of students in schools will increase if the Covid situation improves further and schools will be a buzz with their presence,” she said.

During the closure of schools many girl students were married off, she said, adding” We’ve instructed teachers to take steps to bring back those students to schools.”

Deputy Commissioner (acting) Daud Hossain Chowdhury and Superintendent of Police Milon Mahbub were present.

After nearly 17 months, primary, secondary and higher secondary schools in Bangladesh reopened on September 11.

The government shut the educational institutions on March 17, 2020, after the country reported its first Covid-19 cases on March 8 and later the closure was extended several times.

The pandemic-related school closures in the country affected about 38 million students through the government introduced TV-based learning programmes for them.

The 17-month long closure of educational institutions, termed as the second-longest Covid-triggered school closure in the world by Unicef, had multiple spillover effects in Bangladesh.

The increasing rate of school dropouts and child marriage top the list among the adverse impacts of such a lengthy closure.