'নিরাপদ ইশকুলে ফিরি (Safe Back to School)’ campaign by 15 leading national and international development organizations has been launched to make the Government's plan to reopen schools a success.

Inaugurating the campaign as the chief guest at a hotel in the capital on 10 February (Wednesday) Dr. Dipu Moni, MP, Hon’ble Minister, Ministry of Education said, “The government is sincere enough to send the children back to school. However, students will be returned after considering all the risks and ensuring health protection”. "The Covid situation has created an opportunity for us to re-evaluate and reform the current education system," she added. “We want the government departments, institutions, development and donor agencies to work together to bring children back to school safely.”

Director General of the Department of Secondary and Higher Education, Professor Dr. Syed Md. Golam Farooq, Additional Director General of the Department of Primary Education Sohel Ahmed, UNICEF Deputy Country Representative in Bangladesh Veera Mendonca and Head of AID, Development Assistance to the Canadian High Commission in Bangladesh Phedra Moon Morris were present as the special guests at the event. 

UNICEF Deputy Country Representative Veera Mendonca stressed the importance of mutual cooperation between development agencies and the government to ensure that schools are the safest place for children amidst the pandemic. She said that in addition to considering health risks, the government should also consider the fact that the rate of dropouts and child marriages have also increased due to the pandemic. It is important to find out how to improve the situation.

Phedra Moon Morris, Head of AID, Development Assistance to the Canadian High Commission in Bangladesh, applauds the government initiative to give priority to teachers and educators for vaccination. Reefat Bin Sattar, Director (Program Development and Quality) of Save the Children in Bangladesh, sheds light on the background of the campaign and scope of joining hands with the government through this. KAM Morshed, Senior Director, BRAC, presented the keynote paper based on the results of various studies. Director- Advocacy, Communications & External Engagement of World Vision Bangladesh Tony Michael moderated the event.

The children of the National Children's Task Force (NCTF) shared their experiences of not being able to go to school for the last 10 months. They said that there is no alternative to reopening schools to ensure a better future and better mental health.

In the concluding remarks, Onno Van Manen, Country Director of Save the Children in Bangladesh said that the organizations joined in this campaign are ready to collaborate in the government's plan. He also hoped that more development agencies will join the campaign in the upcoming days. 

The 'Safe Back to School (SB2S)' campaign aims to support the government to prepare children, families, parents and educational institutions to restart the educational activities so that students can back to the safest school set-up. 

The organizations who joined hands for the campaign are- BRAC, Campaign for Popular Education (CAMPE), Dhaka Ahsania Mission (DAM), Educo Bangladesh, FIVDB, Friendship, Humanity Inclusion (HI), Jagorany Chakra Foundation (JCF), Plan International Bangladesh, Room to Read, Save the Children in Bangladesh, Sesame Workshop Bangladesh, Stromme Foundation, World Vision International and Young Power in Social Action (YPSA).