– Mita Mukherjee
Schools in West Bengal will start in-person classes for students of Classes IX to XII from February 12, Bengal education minister Partha Chatterjee said on Tuesday.
The minister said classes will be held adhering to the health protocols.
“We have decided to reopen the schools from February 12. Students appearing in the 2021 Higher Secondary (XII) board examinations can also attend the schools for practical classes. We will ask the schools to hold the practical classes for them,” Chatterjee told reporters at the Trinamul Congress headquarters when asked when the schools would reopen for physical classes.
The minister said the sanitization drive has already started in the schools for resuming the on-campus teaching.
The dates for resumption of in-person classes for students of the remaining classes will be announced gradually in a phased manner, Chatterjee said.
He also announced that schools will be allowed to hold Saraswati Puja this time like the previous years.
Saraswati Puja is on February 16. Goddess Saraswati, considered the deity of learning, music and culture is traditionally worshipped in Bengal and in all educational institutions on Basant Panchami.
There was uncertainty whether the schools would be allowed to hold Saraswati Puja or not this time because the institutions are closed.
“Schools will hold Saraswati Puja. There is no problem,” the minister said.
Students who will be appearing in the Class X and XII board examinations this year could not attend even a single class since March 2020 because all educational institutions were shut down to prevent the spread of Covid-19.
Many private schools said they were ready to reopen the campuses but they were waiting for the state government to make the official announcement on the resumption of the on-campus classes.
Also read:
West Bengal: Class 10, 12 board exams to be held in June
Tamil Nadu: Schools to reopen for class 9 and 11 from Feb 8
West Bengal: CBSE, KVS schools get ready to reopen for class XII
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