Bengal: No reopening decision yet for schools either

TNN | 24 November 2020 | KOLKATA: Like colleges, reopening of schools in Bengal hang in balance as the state government is yet to make any announcement. Though education minister Partha Chatterjee had hinted about taking a decision soon, school authorities do not expect a date anytime soon. 

“We have bought no-contact temperature guns, ordered hand sanitizers to be kept at several points and hundreds of masks that we can distribute to students who may have damaged them while coming to school or during school hours. But before the state government allows schools to begin in-classroom instructions, we plan to sanitize the campus once more,” said principal of Ram Mohan Mission School Sujoy Biswas. 

Another teacher pointed out that no student would be allowed on the campus without a no-objection certificate from parents. “We will initially ask only senior classes, those between IX and XII, to attend on-campus classes. Also, the online classes will run simultaneously for those who may opt to stay at home,” said another school head. 

In the first meeting of West Bengal Private Schools Association, which was held at a school in Salt Lake on November 10 and saw representation by more than 100 schools, it was unanimously decided to seek a meeting with chief minister Mamata Banerjee and education minister Partha Chatterjee to request the government to reopen school campuses, which have been shut since March. 

Saswati Chakrabarti, mother of a Class-VII student at a school, said it was natural for parents to be concerned about the possibility of their kid contracting the novel virus at school. “The data of virus spreading among schoolchildren and teachers from Andhra Pradesh and some other states, where schools have reopened for in-person classes, is scaring me,” she said. Another parent pointed out that given the Covid spread, Maharashtra government had decided to keep schools shut till at least December 31.