The West Bengal government has allowed the reopening of primary and upper primary schools from February 16. Schools from Classes 8 to 12 resumed for offline classes on February 3, while open air learning sessions for students up to Class 7 started four days later under a project named 'Paray Shikshalay' (education centre at your locality).
While announcing the school reopening news and relaxation of Covid guidelines, the West Bengal government, in a official statement said: "A separate standard operating procedure will be issued by School Education Department in this regard."
"On reopening primary schools, we will wait for a few more days and review the Covid-19 situation. We have heard that a new variant (of the virus) is coming. We have to keep a tab on that," Mamata Banerjee said at a state government programme in Kolkata earlier.
Schools in several states including Chandigarh and Uttar Pradesh will resume offline classes after many months of closure from today, February 14.
The Central Government on February 2 has also issued modified guidelines for reopening of schools and asked states and Union Territories (UTs) to decide at their level whether schools require consent from parents to allow students in classrooms.
As per the new guidelines, it will be up to states and UTs if parents need to give such permission. However, the new guidelines have also asked parents to give their consent if states or UTs ask for it.
Further, the guidelines issued by the Department of School Education and Literacy, Ministry of Education, suggested preparing bridge courses and implementing them in classrooms.
