No decision on closure of secondary edn institutions yet
The education ministry is yet to decide on keeping the secondary educational institutions shut tomorrow, although the High Court has ordered closure of all primary and secondary schools and madrasas till that day amid the sweltering heat.
The ministry wanted to lodge an appeal with the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court against the order, but it could not do so till yesterday noon for not having the copy of the order, said officials.
The ministry may not be able to file the appeal today as it is a public holiday on the occasion of May Day. Tomorrow is a holiday for the court.
Education Minister Mohibul Hassan Chowdhoury yesterday said they heard about the HC order through the media, but did not receive a copy of the order.
"We are respectful to the court. It is hard to make any comment on the court order. I don't want to comment on this," he told reporters at his ministry.
Asked about keeping schools shut for Thursday, Mohibul said, "There is still some time. We hope we will be able to see the court order. We will follow the order."
Education ministry officials said they are in favour of announcing closure of schools in those districts which are experiencing severe heatwave. They, however, said this stance may change once they receive the certified copy of the HC order.
Officials said they will have to close all educational institutions for tomorrow if they cannot lodge the appeal with the apex court.
Schools and colleges were scheduled to reopen on April 21 after the Eid and Pahela Baishakh holidays. But the education ministry initially extended the closure until April 27 and reopened all schools and colleges on Sunday ignoring concerns of parents.
On Monday, the ministry again announced closure of all schools and colleges in 27 districts for Tuesday.
Mohibul yesterday said closing schools and carrying out other activities like implementing the curriculumare operational jobs of the executive branch of the state, which makes decisions following discussion with different stakeholders.
He said Met offices reported high temperatures in some districts and the ministry was taking decisions on keeping the schools in those districts shut. "The ministry is making decisions on a daily basis."
The minister said academic activities are being disrupted in different haor and char areas in the dry season. The situations in Dhaka and the country's remote areas are different, he added.
"Keeping English medium schools, where children of affluent parents study, open and the general schools, where children of workers and the masses study, closed is apparently discriminatory," he said.
Referring to the discussion on the social media over closure of schools and a cartoon run by The Daily Star yesterday, Mohibul said, "They should also think about the marginalised people. You cannot only consider the influential, affluent and capital-centric parents.
"It is not appropriate for us to run the government by listening to what is being said in the social media space."
Speaking at an event in the capital in the afternoon, the minister said they are planning to frame a policy so that the district education offices can make decisions on closing schools considering the local weather conditions and disasters.
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