The government on Wednesday extended the closure of secondary and higher secondary-level educational institutions by two weeks until February 20, taking the worsening Covid-19 situation in the country.

“The closure of schools and colleges has been extended by two weeks,” MA Khair, public relations officer of the Education Ministry, told UNB.

Read: Keep schools open to avert learning catastrophe: UNICEF

On January 21, the government announced that all the schools and colleges of the country will remain closed from January 21 to February 6 in an effort to curb the spread of Covid-19 pandemic.

The following day, the Ministry of Education issued an 11-point directive, including resuming online classes, for schools and colleges during the closure.

Besides, the vaccination of students aged between 12 to 17 years against Covid-19 was directed to be continued following the health guidelines in coordination with the zonal offices of the Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education, District Education Office, Upazila Secondary Education Offices, local administration and Civil Surgeons.

After a long closure due to the pandemic, the students of schools and colleges in Bangladesh returned to their classrooms on September 12 last year.

Read:Schools, colleges to return to online classes: Ministry

The government shut the educational institutions on March 17, 2020, after the country reported its first Covid-19 cases on March 8 and later the closure was extended several times.