Health Guidelines: Students compliant, guardians not
Most students have been wearing masks and sanitising their hands at the gates of schools and maintaining social distances in the classrooms.
But guardians, especially in the capital, still form crowds at the gates, correspondents of The Daily Star found observing 10 schools in the capital and many more elsewhere for a week since the reopening.
"Teachers found neglecting the health guidelines will face a penalty," Professor Amir Hossain, director (monitoring and evaluation) at the Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education, told The Daily Star.
All primary and secondary schools and colleges started resuming classes in person from September 12 after 543 days amid the pandemic.
Candidates of HSC and SSC exams of 2021 and 2022 and this year's PECE and its equivalent exams are now attending classes every day. Students of grades 1 to 4 and 6 to 9 are attending in-person classes once a week.
In visits made by the correspondents of this paper, it was found that health guidelines were mostly followed at Mirpur Girls' Ideal Laboratory Institute, Monipur High School and College (Shewrapara), Azimpur Government Girls School and College, Mohammadpur Government High School, Nilkhet Government Primary School and Shahid Buddhijibi Dr. Amin Uddin Government Primary School.
The students were wearing masks and they sanitised their hands at the entrances while there was proper social distancing in the classrooms.
However, around 12:00pm yesterday, a group of students of Agargaon Adarsha High School was seen entering the school without a temperature-check and without having their hands sanitised at the gate.
School's shift-in-charge Tarikul Islam, said "They sanitised their hands at the washrooms inside the building."
But guardians were seen flouting the health guidelines, forming crowds at Mirpur Girls' Ideal Laboratory Institute, Monipur High School and College (Shewrapara), Azimpur Government Girls School and College and most of the other schools visited.
Prof Amir said, "Guardians should act reasonably while dropping off and picking up their children."
Although students are by and large maintaining health guidelines on campuses, many ignored it after the school hours.
Two 5th graders outside Nilkhet Primary School said it was too difficult for them to wear the masks for such a long time.
Our correspondents in Chattogram found most schools maintaining health guidelines. But parents were seen forming crowds outside the schools in the port city too.
Chattogram Government High School is one such school.
In Rajshahi, the authorities of different schools and colleges were failing to get students to follow the virus rules properly.
Social distancing in classrooms and on campuses was not being maintained. Students came to schools and colleges and returned home in groups, reported our staff correspondent in Rajshahi.
Visiting four schools in Sylhet city, our correspondent found that students were flouting the rules as they walked out of the schools. They were seen forming crowds.
In Khulna, many students of the Government Bangabandhu College were seen on the college premises without any face covering. Tanmay Baidya, a student, said he wore a mask in the classrooms.
Faruqul Islam, headteacher of Iqbal Nagar Secondary Girls' School, said, "Before they enter the classroom, students who do not have any, are provided the masks."
Prof Amir said officials have asked every school to create awareness among students about maintaining the health guidelines in and outside the campuses.
Comments