Is Bangladesh ready to open its schools? School closure and opening policy dilemma of Bangladesh

The novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has ravaged most countries in the world. The first human cases of COVID-19 were reported in Wuhan City, China, in December 2019. Around 185 million people have been infected by COVID-19 worldwide leading to 4 million deaths as of July 5, 2021 and counting. COVID-19 has not spared Bangladesh, a low-middle income country in South Asia and one of the most densely populated countries (1,260 population/sq km) with a fragmented health care system struggling to provide services for around 180 million people. Bangladesh declared the first three known cases on March 8, 2020.1 From the beginning, like other countries, Bangladesh also took many restrictive measures, such as the closure of educational institutes, national lockdown, and suspension of air flights and so on to control the spread of COVID-19. During improved COVID situation of first and second wave in Bangladesh, all restrictive steps have been suspended, except the closure of educational institutions. As school closure continue since March 2020, it affected around 3.7 million students in Bangladesh.2, 3, 4

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, like in many other countries, Bangladesh implemented school closures nationally since the beginning as part of the measures.5 Schools can be a hot spot for the spread of COVID-19 as children congregate in poorly ventilated classrooms for hours. Teachers, school staff, bus drivers and others spend significant amounts of time with students in enclosed spaces, where they are at a relatively high risk of contracting COVID-19 from children as well as from one another. Children going to school by public transport, often with their parents, allow greater mixing. Even if children are less susceptible than adults to infection, they could carry at least some infections home to family members—who could face far worse health threats and spread the virus more effectively among the general population.6 Unfortunately, the susceptibility and fatality of children due to COVID-19 in Bangladesh is higher compared to other countries.7

School closure was one of the strategic decisions to combat COVID-19 spread all over the country at the very beginning and before other preventive measures to stop spreading. The most important and direct impact is interrupted learning. For example, during the year 2013–2014, schools of West Africa were affected severely and studies showed that after prolonged school closure there was a reduction in school attendance, and an increased rate of dropouts. There was a long-term impact on the community like increase risk of violence and abuse, teenage pregnancy and child labour.5 The other negative effects are poor nutrition due to missing school, confusion and stress among the teachers, distance-learning or home-schooling issues and challenges along with unintended pressure of continuing, breaches of child care, and an economic burden. On May 8, 2021, a nine-grade student committed suicide in Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh due to depression staying at home for a long time.8 There is some long-term impact like increasing rate of dropout, economic aftermath, social and institutional isolation and severe impact on mental health.9

COVID-19 pandemic has had an unprecedented negative impact on all educational systems worldwide with no exceptions. A total of 200 countries closed the schools which affected approximately 1.6 billion students in April 2020. In general, once the curve of daily COVID-19 cases is flattened, countries considered reopening.10 A benefit/ risk ratio assessment must take place, and the benefits should outweigh the risks to consider what is best for the community’s health and the children’s learning and overall well-being.11 According to UNESCO, on January 12, 2021, schools were fully reopened in 90 countries, partially reopened in 47 countries, while 34 countries had a nationwide school closure and were shifting to distant learning. However, those numbers have been and will keep on changing throughout the pandemic as countries close and re-open their schools according to their COVID-19 situation.12

A major dilemma for the government of Bangladesh is when to open its schools. Before making decisions to continue school closure or reopen, the government of Bangladesh should first gather and analyze carefully crucial data on how well the students, parents, and teachers, are keeping up with the pandemic. Data should include information like how well and for how long can remote learning be delivered and sustained, the quality and accessibility of online education compared to that of face-to-face learning, whether the intended learning outcomes can be achieved from online learning alone, the ability of teachers and students to use online learning platforms, and what school services are being compromised in the process. At the same time, the government should also collect data on the socio-economic and health effects caused by school closures, the preparedness of schools to implement protective measures and what public health and healthcare risks are being introduced if schools reopen. Such data can be collected using rapid response surveys. The government can use these data to evaluate the value of reopening, benefits from face-to-face learning versus distant learning, and the risks arising from resuming schools once again. Based on these scenarios, we propose that the government of Bangladesh should consider the following recommendations when taking the next steps:

Text box 1. Recommendations to consider for opening schools in Bangladesh

We recommend that the government of Bangladesh should audit the emerging situation taking into consideration past and new data, develop clear guidelines for school opening, and take all measures to protect the education and health of its young citizens.