Primary, secondary schools shut down in Rajshahi due to cold

Primary and secondary schools in the northern district of Rajshahi have been declared closed due to severe cold.

This announcement was made separately from the concerned department on Saturday as the local meteorological department predicted that the district would experience less than 10°C temperature on Sunday and Monday. 

According to sources, all the secondary educational institutions of Rajshahi have been declared closed on Sunday and Monday.

This announcement was made in a letter signed by Acting Deputy Director of Secondary and Higher Education Rajshahi Region Dr Sharmin Ferdous Chowdhury.

In the order, she mentioned that according to the instructions of the Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education (DSHE) and according to the information received from the Bangladesh Meteorological Department, the temperature of Rajshahi district will be below 10°C on Sunday and Monday.

 As a result, all secondary-level educational institutions of Rajshahi district were directed to be closed for these two days.

Meanwhile, Rajshahi District Primary Education Officer Saidul Islam said that primary schools will be closed only on Sunday. 

A fresh announcement will be made on Monday if the temperature remains below 10°C.

On the other hand, the minimum temperature in Rajshahi has been between 9°C and 11°C for a week. There is also bone-chilling wind in the region. 

Due to winter, the attendance of students in the educational institutions of the district has decreased. The low attendance of students was observed everywhere in the cities and villages.

Those concerned said that parents do not want to send their children to school to avoid illness due to severe winter. 

Teachers said that even though classes have started in full swing in schools, students are not coming in full swing. They hope that the students will come in full swing when the winter subsides.

During a visit at Bhadra Government Primary School in the city around 9:30am on Thursday, it was seen that the attendance of students was low. The same picture was seen in the first classroom of this school. The number of students in this class is 70. But only 17 people were present in the class. 

Besides, there are 80 students of the same school in class three but only 26 were present in the class. 

Sultana Sabana, headmaster of the school said that the attendance of students is low due to winter. A few days ago, a student came to school and vomited. Later they were given leave. Apart from this, parents said that due to winter, some students were affected by diseases like diarrhoea. 

However, the attendance of students will increase as winter subsides.

Abdus Salam, senior observer of Rajshahi Meteorological Observatory, said that the minimum temperature of Rajshahi was recorded at 10.6°C at 9am on Thursday

Then on Friday, 13.8°C was recorded and 9.8°C was recorded at 9am on Saturday. The temperature suddenly dropped by 4°C on Saturday.

On January 16, DSHE issued a circular saying that the education authorities in any district can close down schools in case the temperature drops below 10°C.