students
Students to get new textbooks in time next year: Dipu Moni
Education Minister Dipu Moni on Saturday said students are expected to receive their new textbooks in time next year.
“We’re cautious about errors in printing. Steps will be taken to fix errors if found after printing,” she said.
The minister said this while talking to local reporters after attending the inauguration programme of Sadar Upazila Freedom Fighter Complex in Baburhat area of Chandpur.
The Textbook Festival, marking the distribution of free textbooks among school and madrasa students, was not held on January 1 this year unlike previous years due to the Covid-19 pandemic and students did not get textbooks in time due to delay in printing caused by the pandemic.
Also read: Still unsure about dropped out students’ number: Dipu Moni
The government launched the Textbook Festival in 2009 by distributing textbooks among students across the country as a gift for the New Year.
School and college students in Bangladesh returned to their classrooms on September 11 after a prolonged closure due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The government had shut the educational institutions on March 17, 2020, after the country reported its first Covid-19 cases on March 8, 2020 and later the closure was extended several times.
Also read: Vaccination campaign for school children kicks off in Dhaka centres
The pandemic-related school closures in the country affected about 38 million students though the government introduced TV-based learning programmes for them.
112 Manikganj students vaccinated under trial run
Some 112 students of four government schools in Manikganj were vaccinated on Thursday with Pfizer jabs as part of a test run of the government for vaccinating school students against Covid-19.
All the vaccinated students were of the 12-17 age group.
Sixty of the students were from Manikganj Government Boys High School, 32 from SK Government Girls High School, 10 from Zahid Maleque High School and another 10 from Bangabandhu High School.
Read: Trial run for school vaccination to begin Thursday with 100 Manikganj students
Although 120 students were supposed to be vaccinated on the day the health authorities decided not to vaccinate eight of them as they were suffering from various illnesses.
Inaugurating the trial run at 12 pm at Manikganj Colonel Malek Medical College, Health Minister Zahid Maleque said, “This vaccine (Pfizer) is safe and has been given to school kids in Europe and America as well.”
“We want our children to be safe, too. Soon, school children across the country will be brought under the vaccination drive,” he said.
Mobashbir Rahman Rafid, a 10th grader of Manikganj Government Boys High School, is the first child to receive Covid shot in Bangladesh.
“I was a little bit scared at first. But I felt no discomfort after receiving the vaccine. I’m over the moon to be the first child to be vaccinated,” he said.
Meanwhile, Taslima Akhter, another 10th grader of Zahid Maleque High School, was the first schoolgirl to be vaccinated in the country.
“Since school reopened, I have been suffering from a sense of fear to join classes because of Covid. Now I can attend classes without fear,” she said.
Read: Vaccination campaign for school students to begin within a week: DGHS chief
Principal of Colonel Malek Medical College and Hospital Dr Md Zakir Hossain said they are yet to receive any complaint from the vaccinated children.
On January 27, Prime Minister Hasina launched the Covid-19 vaccination programme at Kurmitola General Hospital through a videoconference.
The government rolled out a countrywide mass Covid-19 vaccination drive on February 7 vaccinating people aged 55 and above in the first phase.
On July 29, the government lowered the minimum age limit for taking Covid-19 jabs to 25 from 30 years in a bid to give a boost to the lagging vaccination rates in the country.
Vaccination campaign for school students to begin within a week: DGHS chief
A new campaign to vaccinate school students aged 12 and above will start within a week, said DGHS chief ABM Khurshid Alam on Tuesday.
“The inoculation drive for school children between the ages of 12 and 17 will start this week,” said the DG of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) while talking to reporters following an event at the health department.
He said 21 centres have been selected at the district and city corporation levels across the country for this purpose.
“The Pfizer vaccine will be used for children,” he said, adding, “School authorities will provide us with the lists of their students. We’ll pass that onto the Surokkha app server afterwards.”
Read: Govt preparing to vaccinate students aged 12 and above
The DGHS head said jabs will initially be pushed to 50-100 selected children on trial basis.
“We run trials before giving any vaccine. Fifty to 100 children will be selected for this,” he said.
Earlier this month, Education Minister Dr Dipu Moni said preparations are underway to vaccinate school students who are above 12 years old.
On Sunday, the World Health Organization (WHO) approved the vaccination of those who are under 18 years of age in Bangladesh, said Health Minister Zahid Maleque.
Read: Vaccination of students aged 12-17 to begin within 20 days
"I’ve met WHO director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and he has given a nod to it [vaccination of those under 18] when we sought his advice on vaccination of students," he said.
The health minister said students between 12-17 years will be inoculated with US-produced Pfizer vaccine doses as it is suitable for them. “We’re preparing for that. We’ve 6 million doses of Pfizer vaccine in stocks; we’ll get another four million doses soon. We’ve no jab crisis now.
Vaccination campaign in Dhaka University starts from Monday to jab its students, teachers and staff
Dhaka University on Monday launched vaccination campaign at its medical
centre, aiming to inoculate its teachers, students and staff.
The campaign was inaugurated around 9:30am with Sinopharm vaccine jabs, said the officials.
On the first day of the campaign, students, teachers and staffs of the university were seen
lining up at Martyred Intellectual Dr Muhammad Murtaza Medical Centre since morning to get jabbed.
DU expels two students for digital and admission fraud
The Dhaka University (DU) authorities today expelled two students for digital fraud and admission through illegal means.
The expelled students are- Md Rakib Hasan of Accounting & Information Systems Department (Session 2017-18) and Ishrak Hossain Rafi of Geology Department (Session 2017-18).
Also read: DU reopens library amid huge rush of students and brief agitation
The decision was taken at a meeting of the university's Disciplinary Committee with VC Professor Akhtaruzzaman in the chair, said a DU press release.
Besides, some 72 students have been given punishment for different terms for adopting unfair means in the exams.
DU reopens library amid huge rush of students and brief agitation
The Dhaka University on Sunday reopened its library after about an 18-month Covid-induced closure amid a heavy rush of students, some of them trying to force their entry defying health guidelines and causing short-lived agitation.
Tension erupted after assistant proctor Liton Kumar Saha allegedly attempted to slap a student who tried to enter the science library building forcefully, witnesses said.
Angered by Liton’s behaviour students mobbed him demanding an explanation from him.
Also read: DU dormitories to reopen on Oct 5
The students also harassed two campus reporters and forced them to delete the photos and videos they shot.
Five girl students contract Covid in Thakurgaon school
Within two weeks of the reopening of schools in the country, five students of classes IV and V have tested positive for Covid at a primary school in Thakurgaon sadar upazila.
This has prompted the authorities to suspend all classes of IV and V grades at Bahadurpara Government Primary School in Thakurgaon sadar upazila with effect from Thursday.
School principal Farhana Parvin said that samples of the five girl students -- two studying in class IV and three in class V -- were sent for Covid-19 test on Monday. The results came a day later.
"All the five students have been staying at a government orphanage -- Thakurgaon Government Shishu Poribar (girls) -- and of them, three are aged between 10 and 12 years," said the principal.
Also read: Schoolgirl dies with Covid symtomps in Manikganj
“Following a verbal direction from the higher authorities, we have suspended all classes of IV and V grades,” she added.
There are 426 students in the school and of them, 84 are in class IV and 74 in fifth grade.
Meanwhile, the deputy administrator of the orphanage said that on September 17, only one student of Hajipara Adarsha High School had fever and cold, and "later these five students also contracted the same".
From Monday to Wednesday, samples of some 25 girls staying in the orphanage were sent for Covid test and 13 of them came out positive, including the five students of Bahadurpara school, she said.
Also read: School reopening in Bangladesh: Children at greater risk in Delta-hit areas
Resident medical officer of Thakurgaon Modern Sadar Hospital Rakibul Alam Chayan said the 13 girls are being treated in isolation wards. "They are doing well."
Assistant education officer of the upazila, Momtaz Ferdous said,” We have suspended the classes of fourth and fifth grades at Bahadurpara school for a week after being informed.”
Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Abdullah Al Mamun said, "We are keeping a vigil on all students attending schools across the upazila."
On September 12, after nearly 18 months, primary, secondary, and higher secondary schools in Bangladesh reopened with some Covid-safety protocols in place.
Vaccination of students aged 12-17 to begin within 20 days: Health Minister
Vaccination of students aged between 12 to 17 years will begin within the next 20 days, said Health Minister Zahid Maleque on Saturday.
The minister announced this at a meeting at Manikganj municipality office premises.
“I had a conversation with the Prime Minister today in this regard. According to her decision, various activities will begin from the next week to vaccinate the children against Covid-19,” said the minister.
The children will be inoculated with US-made Pfizer vaccine doses as it is suitable for them, he said adding that all arrangements have been made to collect the vaccine doses.
Also read: University students must complete vaccine registration by Sept 27: Dipu Moni
As schools and colleges have already been reopened bringing the children under vaccination coverage is necessary for their safety, he added.
The minister also said in the next campaign more than one crore people will get shots.
Already 2.5 crore people have received the shots with 1.5 crore inoculated with two doses, said Zahid Maleque.
High school students to be vaccinated soon: DSHE chief
The high school students will soon be vaccinated, said the chief of the Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education Friday.
“Soon high school students will be brought under the coroner's vaccine. We are preparing in this regard," DSHE Director General Dr. Syed Golam Faruk said while addressing a meeting at Government Barishal College auditorium.
READ: Student fatally shot at Texas high school; suspect at large
He further added that if covid transmission increases again, institutions will be closed and students are to be assessed through assignments as before.
READ: Robotics lab to be installed in all high schools: State Minister
School Closure: 50,000 students may have dropped out in Kurigram
As students across the country are back to classrooms after one of the world's longest Covid closure, many of them missed their peers with officials concerned in Kurigram fearing that at least 50,000 kids may have dropped out due to early marriage and poverty in the district.
Teachers and concerned officials gave this observation to UNB as school reopened on Sunday after nearly 18 months amid a festive atmosphere and calls for maintaining Covid health guidelines.
District Secondary Education Officer Shamsul Alam said, “We inspected 5 schools in Kurigram Sadar on Sunday. Around 13 % of students have dropped out from these institutions during school closure. As many as 63 girls were victims of child marriage.”
Read: Reopening: Flooding robs of Kurigram students’ enthusiasm
According to “our assumptions, the total number of school dropouts in the district would be around 50,000,” he said adding “We have directed the concerned individuals to present an exact figure as soon as possible.”
After a reality check at the schools in different upazilas of the district including Ulipur and Kurigram, the UNB correspondent reported that the number of absentees was 20-25 % on average in all the institutions.
The correspondent added that most of the students dropped out due to economic reasons and a significant amount due to early marriage.
Read No tiffin, masks at a premium, & may close again: Students return to school tomorrow