Bangladesh: School lessons aired amid COVID-19 pandemic

By SM Najmus Sakib

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AA) - Bangladesh on Sunday began broadcasting pre-recorded secondary level school lessons after educational institutions were closed in an effort to limit the spread of the novel coronavirus.

The country's Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education (DSHE) took the initiative shortly after schools were closed until April 9, though this may be extended.

Lessons for students from the sixth to the tenth grade will be aired on the public broadcaster Bangladesh Television (BTV), Md Belal Hossain, director of the secondary wing of the DSHE, told Anadolu Agency on Sunday.

"We started operating the classes with the help of government agency Access to Information (A2i) to help our children during the corona pandemic as schools are closed. And, the initiative might be taken for the college level," he added.

The program titled, my school at my home, will run each day from 9.00 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. local time (0300GMT to 0630GMT), with classes to repeat from 2.00 p.m. to 5.00 p.m. every day for about 9 million secondary-level students in the country.

Bangladesh had 48 confirmed coronavirus cases as of Sunday, as well five deaths.

After first appearing in Wuhan, China, last December, the novel coronavirus has spread to at least 177 countries and territories, according to data compiled by U.S.-based Johns Hopkins University.

The data shows over 669,300 cases have been reported worldwide since last December, with the death toll above 30,900 and over 142,000 recoveries.