Bengal allows reopening of primary, upr primary schools from Feb 16

KOLKATA: The state government on Monday allowed reopening of all primary and upper primary schools from February 16 (Wednesday) with the Covid situation in the state improving by leaps and bounds. The night restriction that was from 11 pm till 5 am has also been relaxed with effect from Wednesday and movement of people and vehicles or other gatherings have been prohibited from 12 midnight till 5 am.

The state government has also allowed the reopening of all ICDS centres. Schools from classes VIII to XII had reopened with effect from February 3 while students studying in classes V to VII are attending classes under 'Paray Shikshalaya' (Learning at Locality) programme. From Wednesday, all classes from I to VII will be reopened. Schools for students studying in these classes have been closed since March 2020.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on February 10 had said primary schools in the state could be reopened after proper evaluation of the pandemic situation and discussions with school authorities. Nobel laureate Abhijit Vinayak Banerjee, who heads the global advisory committee formed by Banerjee to help the state in its fight against Covid, had also advised recently that schools in Bengal should be reopened as soon as possible with the restrictions impeding the basic learning of students.

The state School Education department has already come up with a notification regarding reopening of schools for conducting primary and upper primary classes. The District Magistrates have been asked to nominate ADM (Education) as nodal officer, who will take all necessary measures for reopening of schools following all Covid protocol. Cooked mid-day meals will be served to all the students attending school. All teaching and non-teaching staff have to attend the campus from Tuesday itself.

The state government has also lifted all restrictions on incoming flights from any location in the country subject to the condition that the passengers are either fully vaccinated or have RT-PCR tests conducted within 72 hours from the time of flight departure.

For all incoming international flights to Bengal, passengers need to be either fully vaccinated or RT-PCR test conducted within 72 hours from the time of flight departure and any other updated extant guidelines. The order shall come into effect from Tuesday itself.

The other restrictions that were in place till February 15 have been extended till February 28. "Wearing of masks, maintenance of physical distancing and health and hygiene protocol must be followed at all times. Employers/ management bodies/owners/supervisors of all offices, establishments and workplaces shall be responsible for the provisioning of all Covid safety measures, including regular sanitisation of workplaces and Covid appropriate norms," read the notification.