West Bengal Schools to Reopen From November 16

The West Bengal government will reopen schools for classes 9 to 12 from November 16, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said in an administrative meeting today. Colleges and universities will also reopen in the state. During the North Bengal administrative meeting, the CM Banerjee directed the Chief Secretary to open schools adding that the campuses should be sanistised and made completely ready before it reopens.

Banerjee had earlier stated that schools will be reopened after Durga Puja on alternate days. Schools have been closed in the state since March 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic struck the entire country and the subsequent lockdown was imposed. The physical classes will begin keeping in mind the health and safety of the children. The education department will work on modalities and guidelines to reopen schools.

Earlier, the CM had mentioned that schools will be reopened after the state government analyses the COVID-19 situation in the state before taking the final call. The detailed guidelines of school reopening are yet to be released.

Most of the states have already resumed offline classes as COVID-19 cases have seen a dip in the past few months. As per a report, about 97 per cent wants to send their children to schools. It also revealed that shutting down schools for such a long time has resulted in kids forgetting what they had learned earlier.

States such as Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Jammu, Haryana, Assam have already reopened physical classes with 50 per cent attendance. Students willing to attend physical classes have also been asked to bring written permission from their parents or guardians allowing them to attend schools.

Most states have also directed the schools to sanitise the campus on a regular basis as well as keep masks and sanitisers ready in case any students have forgotten to carry the same. Several schools have also kept intervals between classes to sanitise the classrooms.

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