Universities in the country will reopen this month as the Coronavirus transmission is declining to the least level.
Education Minister Dr Dipu Moni said this at a cabinet meeting on Monday.
After the meeting, Cabinet Secretary Khandker Anwarul Islam confirmed this in a briefing at the secretariat.
The meeting was chaired by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. She joined the meeting from Ganobhaban through video conference. In addition, ministers and state ministers from the cabinet department of the secretariat also took part in the meeting.
In the briefing, the cabinet secretary said, "The meeting also discussed the scenario of the educational institutions. The Prime Minister asked why universities are making a delay to reopen and our Education Minister has given a detailed explanation.”
“The Education Minister said universities are following the decision of their own syndicate. Hopefully, all the universities will be opened within this month,” added the secretary.
Read more: Varsity dormitories start reopening
Mentioning ‘Management’ a practical problem he also said the condition of the dormitory halls has gotten worse. Since it was closed for two years, the halls have to be renovated and the authorities need to check if the students’ belongings like the beddings are worthy of use.
Khandker Anwarul Islam said, "We have opened schools and colleges, the examination schedules have also been declared. The education minister has assured that there will be no difficulty in taking the exams. If this scenario is stable, the way the test has been declared, it will be taken.”
The cabinet secretary further said the prime minister has also instructed to look into whether students below 18 years of age could be vaccinated.
Meanwhile, some public universities in the country have already taken measures to reopen soon. As part of the measures, Dhaka University (DU) started vaccinating its’ students, teachers and staffs from Monday at the university medical centre.
DU has also decided to reopen dormitory halls for the Master’s and Honours final year students on October 5 (today). These students can get into their respective dormitories after first dose of vaccine and showing the vaccine card.
On the other hand, Barisal University authorities have already opened its’ dormitory halls for students on Monday.