The government has finally decided to reopen the public and private universities of the country after more than a year of closure of all the educational institutions due to the coronavirus pandemic.
All the universities of the country will reopen on May 24 and the dormitories of universities will be opened on May 17, said Education Minister Dr Dipu Moni in an online press briefing on Monday.
The minister said, “The classes in all universities will be started from May 24 after the holy Eid-ul-Fitr. The universitys’ residential halls will also be opened on May 17. Until May 24, no test will be held. The exams will be taken after May 24. Till then the online classes will continue as it was.”
Dipu Moni said all 1.30 lakh residential students of the country’s 220 public university halls, 15,000 teachers and 25,000 employees of different public universities should receive vaccine before reopening of the dormitories.
The minister urged the university authorities to take all-out preparations to reopen the universities as well as ensure all the required renovation of the residential halls.
The announcement came when students of different universities have been protesting with the demand of reopening halls and universities. Hundreds of students of Jahangirnagar University and some students of Dhaka University thronged their dormitories forcefully. They also staged demonstration to meet their demand.
All the educational institutions were shut on March 17 last year due to the coronavirus pandemic. The government extended the closure in phases till 28th February.
However, the decision about reopening of schools, colleges and madrasahs of the country is yet to taken.
The Covid-19 infection rates have decreased in Bangladesh steadily in recent weeks. Meanwhile, vaccination drive was launched on Feb 7 across the country. As of February 22 (Monday), the number of vaccine receivers is 2,308,157.
The vaccination drive was conducted at 50 hospitals in Dhaka city and 1005 hospitals outside the capital today, the DGHS said, adding the immunization programme will begin at 8:00am and it will continue till 2:30pm every day.
Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) on Sunday reported seven coronavirus-related deaths and 327 new cases.
On May 12, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) advised governments that before reopening, the rates of positivity in testing should remain at 5% or lower for at least 14 days.
The daily infection rate was 2.33% on Sunday in Bangladesh, according to DGHS.
