Mita Mukherjee
In the wake of further spike in Covid-19 and ongoing heat-wave conditions, the West Bengal government on Monday declared summer vacation from April 20 in all government schools in Bengal.
According to an advisory issued by Manish Jain, principal secretary to the government of West Bengal to the state primary and secondary boards on Monday : “Due to heat wave and prevailing situation, it is advised to declare summer vacation in the schools under your administrative control with effect from 20/04/2020, until further instructions. You are therefore requested to take necessary action accordingly.”
Soon after the issuing of the government advisory, the state secondary board issued a notice to the schools affiliated with it asking them to comply with the government order.
“In compliance with the advisory vide no. 51-SSE/2021 dated 19.04.2021 issued by the Principal Secretary, School Education Department, it is herein directed that due to heat wave and prevailing situation summer vacation shall begin in all schools on and from 20.04.2021 until further order. All concerned are requested to comply accordingly,” a notification issued by the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education today read.
Summer vacation in schools in Bengal usually starts between May 7 and 15.
Bengal recorded the highest single-day spike on Monday with nearly 8,419 new Covid-19 cases according to a health bulletin of the state government.
The government will urge the private schools to keep their institutions shut , education minister, Partha Chatterjee said.
“All government schools in Bengal will be closed for summer vacation from tomorrow (April 20) . The government can’t ask private schools to do the same. But the government will make an appeal to private schools to keep their institutions closed in view of the present situation,” Chatterjee told EducationWorld.
After remaining closed for nearly 11 months, schools in Bengal had partially reopened for conducting in-person classes for students of Classes IX to XII from February 12 this year.
Teachers and non-teaching employees too will stay at home during the closure and they can’t be asked to attend school during the vacation, an official of the state school education department said.
Though students of Classes I to VIII are taught through online classes, teachers are now asked by many schools, especially the private schools, to teach the students through the online process sitting on the campuses.
According to heads of several government schools, the campuses will be kept closed and teachers will not be asked to come to the campuses. But they will ask teachers to work from home and teach students through the online process.
Heads of several private schools said they would also do the same.
After all educational institutions were shut down in March as a preventive measure against the spread of Covid-19, the schools had been teaching the students through online classes.
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Posted in News, States
