Government flip-flops on school reopening amid prolonged heatwave

*The ongoing heatwave has made day-to-day life difficult for all, with the government initially taking steps to protect schoolchildren from heat-related illnesses.* On the back of a heat alert announced by the meteorological department, the Directorate of Primary Education on April 20 directed primary schools to suspend outdoor assembly activities. However, later that day, the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education announced the closure of all primary schools from April 21 to 27, extending a long Eid and Pahela Baishakh vacation. This was followed by a similar announcement from the Directorate of Secondary & Higher Education (DHSE), closing down all government and private schools and colleges until April 27 as well. Throughout this time, the meteorological department extended the heat alert numerous times, as temperatures soared across the country, reaching over 40 degrees Celsius in many districts. Yet, the government decided to open secondary schools and colleges from Sunday, April 28, as directed in a press release issued by the Ministry of Education on Thursday. On Saturday, the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education gave similar instructions, stipulating that school activities should be over by 11:30am. These decisions, however, proved to be unwise and dangerous. Two teachers -- Mostak Ahmed, 58, from Chattogram's Boalkhali upazila, and Ahsan Habib, 37, from Jashore Sadar -- died yesterday due to heat-related illness. Numerous students, including 18 in Noakhali, 10 in Faridpur, two in Munshiganj and one in Dhaka, fell ill during school hours, and others lost consciousness. The government then partially went back on its decision yesterday, as the education ministry closed schools in five districts -- Dhaka, Chuadanga, Jashore, Khulna, and Rajshahi -- with further decisions to be announced today. All this is happening when the ongoing heatwave is now comfortably the country's longest in 76 years, with temperature records being broken multiple times. Authorities have been reluctant to commit to long school closures amid this extreme weather event. Education Minister Mohibul Hassan Chowdhoury, in an event on Saturday, opposed closing educational institutions nationwide because of high temperatures in some specific areas. He insisted that schools could make the decision on their own if the temperature becomes unbearable or goes above 42 degrees, and added that it was not right to expect education institutions to be closed while everything else remains open. The situation remains unclear now, with multiple government agencies announcing school closures and reopenings at once, while the heat surge continues across the country with little to no sign of respite.
Published on: 2024-04-29 12:38:29.409559 +0200 CEST