Bangladesh reopens schools after 18-month COVID shutdown

After being closed for 543 days, schools reopened as the nation’s virus situation improved and more individuals received vaccinations.

The fifth-grader, with a mask, stood in line outside the arched gate of the Udayan School in the capital city of Dhaka on Sunday as thousands of students in Bangladesh made their way back to class following a 543-day coronavirus closure, which was one of the longest in history.

Two employees stood at the gate of Udayan School, giving out hand sanitizer to children as they waited to enter, and one of them used a thermometer to check the children’s temperatures.

However, everything changed when the pandemic struck, forcing him and millions of other kids to stay at home.

UNICEF issued a warning last week in a study, stating that extended school closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted “alarming inequities” for over 430 million children in South Asia.

UNICEF’s regional director, George Laryea-Adjei, stated in a statement that “school closures in South Asia have forced hundreds of millions of children and their teachers to transition to remote learning in a region with low connectivity and device affordability.”