Schools and colleges in West Bengal will reopen for offline classes from today, as per official notifications issued by the state government.
The schools will reopen for students of classes 9 to 12, according to a notice issued by the School Education Department last month.
The District Magistrates have been asked to ensure schools are made ready by for reopening from November 16.
The vice-chancellors and college principals have also been asked to make the school buildings ready to pave the way for the resumption of offline classes in undergraduate and postgraduate courses from November 16.
The concerned railway authorities be intimated by the educational institutions for issuing train passes, the notifications said.
Standard COVID-19 protocols be strictly adhered to while holding classes on the campus, the government said.
Schools and colleges in the state have been closed since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic in March last year.
Educationists said institutes should be reopened in a phased manner.
"Students have suffered a lot due to closure of educational institution campuses for over one-and-a-half years. The decision by the CM is welcome. But since the Covid situation still hasn't gone and there has been a rise in infection in the state, we need to tread with caution. Schools should be opened in a phased manner," educationist Nrisingha Prasad Bhaduri said.
The headmistress of Manimala High School at Asansol in Paschim Bardhaman district Ranjana Roy Choudhury said students of higher and lower classes should be allowed to attend classes on different days to avoid crowding.
The headmaster of Kolkata's Jadavpur Vidyapith, Parimal Bhattacharya, said the school administration has initiated steps to sanitise the premises before the puja vacation.
"We are planning to start higher classes in groups and make seating arrangements accordingly. We will go by the notification of the school education department," he added.
Siuli Sarkar, the principal of Lady Brabourne College in Kolkata, said, "We are ready to open our campus for offline classes where students will sit keeping a distance and in small batches. We will decide on the modalities once the government order is issued."
*With agency inputs
