Education institutions allowed to resume admin activities

Education institutions from now on may operate administrative activities and routine maintenance works maintaining health guidelines amid the coronavirus outbreak, reads a circular issued by the education ministry on Monday.

The circular limits the administrative and maintenance works to admission related activities, and maintenances of the libraries, laboratories and other equipment.

Aged and pregnant teachers and employees, however,  are not required to go to the institutes, according to the circular.

‘It’s completely related to the administrative works only. The academic activities would remain suspended,’ deputy education minister Mahibul Hassan Choudhury told New Age.

The circular came a day after publishing the results of Secondary School Certificate and equivalent exams and after resuming limited activities at public universities and starting online-based academic semesters by the private universities.

The government, semi-government and autonomous bodies also resumed limited scale activities on Monday.

The Islamic Foundation issuing a separate circular on Monday also gave clearances to the quomi madrassahs to operate administrative activities maintaining health guidelines.

‘The circular was issued after the quomi madrassah authorities approached the prime minister through the state minister for religion seeking permission to open madrassahs as the their admission activities start after the Ramadan,’ Islamic Foundation director general Anis Mahmud said.

‘But, they have not yet been given permission to resume academic activities or to open the boarding,’ said Anis.

For resuming academic activities, he said, they would have to follow instructions of the education ministry.

Education minister Dipu Moni in a press briefing on Sunday, however, said that the ministry had no immediate plan to resume academic activities at schools, colleges and universities amid the coronavirus outbreak.

‘We must ensure the safety of students,’ she said adding that the government did not even plan to start admissions to the higher secondary level or HSC and equivalent exams soon.

The HSC and equivalent exams would begin only after resuming normalcy, she said.

No half-yearly test at the schools would be held, she said adding that the ministry was working to review syllabuses for the final exams.

The online-based and TV-based learning would continue, she said adding that the government would come up with more programmes for reaching maximum number of students during the closures of the academic activities.

The government closed the educational institutions on March 18, which had been extended to June 15 later.

News Courtesy: www.newagebd.net