The School Education Department has asked institutions to adopt all CORONA-19 safety protocols. With barely three days to go to reopen campuses, school authorities in West Bengal are preparing to ensure attendance of students of higher classes and keep an eye on the situation as they unfold.
School premises were closed for students since the end of March last year following the COVID-19 pandemic and teaching was provided on online mode. Education minister B. Basu said two days ago that the school education department would leave it to parents to decide whether they want their children studying in classes nine to eleven, to attend individual classes from November 16, for, after a gap of 20 months.
Physical Classes had Started in Mid-February:
South Point School in south Kolkata will only ask students of classes IX and Class XI to attend practical on scheduled dates from November 16, but the tutorials will continue on online mode till next month when the situation is reviewed. Physical classes had started in mid-February this year for senior school students to be closed again in April due to the second wave of CORONA-19.
Students can Maintain Physical Distance from each other:
Birla Centre for Education here will conduct classes thrice a week in offline mode for students of classes 9 to 12 from November 16, a spokesman said. We have rescheduled the routine in such a way that classes are not crowded so that students can maintain physical distance from each other and at the same time do not compromise on the content of instruction. For class 10 and 12 students appearing for board exams, the issue of attending regular classes on the campus does not arise.
Divided Our Classes 9 and 11 into Smaller Groups:
Parimal Bhattacharya, headmaster of Jadavpur Vidyapeeth, said that we have divided our classes of 9 and 11 Standard into small groups and changed the routine accordingly. We will also start practical. This will help them to write the exam in offline mode, – he said. The school will also conduct on-campus exams for class 10 and 12. He said the school authorities would assess the situation for some time and then take a decision accordingly.
Students Separated from Normal School Life:
Sarbari Brahma, Principal, Griffins International School, Kharagpur said – The students have been detached from normal school life for a long time. Some of the newly admitted students in class 11 have not even seen the school premises properly. So, we first want to adapt them to the school campus environment.
Educational Institutions will Reopen for Physical Classes:
Following Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s announcement that educational institutions would reopen for physical classes from November 16 if the CORONA situation improves, the Department of School Education and Higher Education have decided to start offline classes in schools from class 9 to Class 12, that is issued a notification regarding, and colleges and universities.
However, it was left to the concerned authorities of the respective colleges and universities to discuss the modalities and decide which semester students at the undergraduate and postgraduate level would be given priority for attending offline classes.
