The stagnation caused in education of four crore students in the country by the coronavirus pandemic has not yet completely subsided. Even after opening on September 12, classes are not being held in all classes every day in schools, colleges, madrasas and technical education institutions. In addition to the uncertain situation posed by the pandemic, the biggest obstacle in this regard is the crisis of vaccination of all students. It is clear from the present reality that, by 2021, the educational institutions will not be able to return to normalcy. Therefore, it is important for the government to pay special attention to bring all students under vaccination as soon as possible.
Just as millions of students across the country are desperate to return to the classroom, so are teachers and parents too who are counting days for the stalemate to subside. In this regard, the statement of the officials concerned of the Ministry of Education shows that the government is currently emphasising how to complete the two big public examinations like SSC and HSC in compliance with proper health rules. SSC exams are scheduled to be held in November and HSC exams in December.
It is worth noting that, as per the decision of the Ministry of Health, a special programme has been started in the country to vaccinate students between the ages of 12 and 17. Vaccination for students aged 18 and over started for quite a long time now. Meanwhile, the director general of the Department of Primary Education said they have made all kinds of preparations to start the normal activities of primary schools. Normal teaching activities will be started only after getting permission from the policymaking stage of the government. The question is, then, why is physical teaching stuck in all classes of primary schools?
Hopefully, the vaccination programme for students aged 12 to 17 years started experimentally last Thursday. On the first day of the program, 120 students from 4 schools of Manikganj Sadar Upazila were vaccinated. After that, the vaccination programme will begin on a large scale in Dhaka. For this reason, lists of students aged 12 to 17 years have been asked for from the educational institutions of the capital. A trial of Pfizer vaccines is now being conducted on students between this age group. It is notable that this Pfizer vaccine has been applied to this age group in different countries of America and Europe too. As a result, public health experts are also hoping that there is no risk of any catastrophic side effects of this vaccine in Bangladesh too. The biggest concern now is: how long it will take to vaccinate all students in this age group in the country. The government should take special priority programmes to restore the normal teaching environment in all educational institutions of the country by completing the immunisation of students.
