Dhaka, Jun 13 (IANS): The Bangladeshi government has further extended the ongoing closure of educational institutions until June 30 as the Covid-19 infection rate has increased substantially in parts of the country.

The country's Ministry of Education announced the decision on Saturday, saying that "all secondary and higher secondary level educational institutions, including Islamic schools, would remain closed till June 30", reports Xinhua news agency.

Previously the closure was extended in phases till June 13.

The Ministry's notification said the decision was taken upon the advice of a technical committee as the pandemic situation worsened in some parts of the country bordering India.

The decision is aimed at ensuring the safety of students, teachers, institution employees and guardians, it said.

Online academic activities of all schools and colleges will continue as usual, it added.

In a notification, the country's Ministry of Primary and Mass Education also said the ongoing closure of all primary schools and kindergartens has also been extended to June 30.

On March 16, 2020, Bangladesh had first announced to close all educational institutions in the country in an effort to halt the spread of the virus.

Since March last year, the virus has spread to nearly every Bangladesh district, and the total number of cases has risen to 824,486 with 13,071 deaths.