This has come at a time when some state government are still figuring out whether to keep the schools shut or re-open offline classes. (Representative image). The coronavirus pandemic has affected students in more than one way — from the postponement of exams to continuous shift from offline to online classes, COVID-19 has changed the way schools operate. However, the West Bengal government has decided that students shall not be deprived of classes anymore.
West Bengal education department has decided to launch a new initiative called ‘Paray Sikshalay’ (neighbourhood school). Under this initiative, primary and pre-primary students of state-run schools will be given lessons in open spaces. An official declared on Sunday that this new initiative will help get students back to an offline teaching environment and the open air will ensure they stay safe from fitting in a class and catching infections.
“Children have long been deprived of tutorial lessons owing to the COVID-19 pandemic-induced restrictions. We have now decided hold classes on open ground,” the official was quoted saying by news agency PTI.
Not just this, students will also be motivated to participate in extracurricular activities such as elocution and painting, which will also take place in open air.
This has come at a time when some state governments are still figuring out whether to keep the schools shut or re-open offline classes. A recent survey in Maharashtra had revealed that nearly 62 per cent of surveyed parents are unwilling to send their children to school from January 24, since the state government’s decision to allow the reopening of schools from Monday.
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