Ensure health and safety when reopening universities

After over 500 days of closure of all education institutions in Bangladesh—one of the longest pandemic-induced shutdowns of education in the world—we are pleased to hear that the authorities have decided to resume certain education-related activities from mid-October. At a meeting on Thursday, it was announced that students of all public and private universities will be inoculated against Covid-19 by end of September, and the universities will start in-person classes from October 15.

Although there have been attempts to shift to online learning during the prolonged shutdown, the huge digital divide and inadequate planning and haphazard directives from the education ministries did not lead to desired results. Given that Unesco has termed the learning loss caused by the pandemic an unfolding "generational catastrophe", we fully accept the urgency of holding exams and resuming classes as soon as possible. However, we must also equally stress the importance of protecting our students while helping them to recover from learning losses.

While we appreciate the initiative to vaccinate students, it must be noted that only 35 percent of 1.45 lakh registered students have been inoculated so far, out of a list of about 3.5 lakh university students sent to the health ministry by the UGC. This means that there are still around three lakh university students who need to be given both doses of the vaccine, of whom over two lakh haven't even registered for it yet. What steps are being taken to ensure these students are registered? Does the government have enough vaccines in stock to inoculate all of them by October? Is there going to be another special vaccination drive for students, and will this be as crowded and chaotic as the one we saw earlier this month? Given the precedent that has been set regarding stock shortfalls and last-minute cancellations of special vaccination drives, one can be forgiven for being cautious in their expectations.

The reopening of halls is another issue where education authorities have been accused of being unsympathetic to students' needs. So far, it has been decided that universities will make their own decisions regarding this. But if halls do not open by the time students have to sit for exams or join classes, have the authorities considered how they will afford the substantial expenses of arranging their own accommodation? The UGC chairman has also said that strict Covid-19 health protocols will be maintained in classrooms. We hope that these protocols, and all other relevant information, will be properly communicated well in advance to the students—since so far, the frequent disruptions in learning as well as the uncertainty and lack of clarity surrounding decisions related to the resumption of in-person classes have put a great deal of stress on them.

While no concrete decisions have been taken regarding the reopening of schools and colleges, it is expected that an announcement will be made within the week. We urge the authorities to allow no further delays in holding SSC and HSC examinations, and to listen to the experts in formulating strategies for reopening all schools and colleges in phases. At the end of the day, it is imperative that the wellbeing of our students is at the centre of every decision taken regarding them, and that they are able to have their concerns heard during this decision-making process.