Assess impact of Cyclone ‘Dana: State School Education Board seeks report from nine districts

Kolkata: The state School Education Department has sought damage reports from nine districts to assess the impact of Cyclone ‘Dana’ on schools. The directive, recently issued by the Commissioner of the State School Education Department, instructs the District Inspector of Schools (DI) at both the primary and secondary levels to submit their reports through a Google form. The concerned districts are Kolkata, Howrah, Hooghly, North 24-Parganas, South 24- Parganas, Purba Medinipur, Paschim Medinipur, Jhargram, and Bankura. Cyclone Dana made landfall on October 24, bringing heavy rainfall that has reportedly impacted numerous blocks within these districts. The Department has requested immediate feedback on the status of damages caused to students’ textbooks, exercise books, and school infrastructure from respective DIs. To ensure student safety, the state School Education Department had suspended academic activities in educational institutes across the nine affected districts from Wednesday, October 23, to Saturday, October 26. Additionally, a separate directive from the state Higher Education Department instructed higher education institutions, including universities and colleges in eight districts, to remain closed during the same period.