Bangladesh schools reopen after 18-month Covid shutdown

Children in Bangladesh returned to classrooms on Sunday as schools reopened after 18 months, one of the world’s longest coronavirus shutdowns.

Pupils in the capital Dhaka were filmed having their temperature checked and sanitising their hands as they entered school. They wore masks in the classroom.

The return came after UNICEF warned that lengthy pandemic-induced school closures were worsening "alarming inequities" for more than 430 million children across South Asia. Shutdowns were forcing students and teachers to “transition to remote learning in a region with low connectivity and device affordability," the report said.