Bengal schools and colleges reopen on Thursday

Kolkata, Feb 3 (UNI) Students returned to their classrooms across West Bengal on Thursday, as educational institutions reopened following the easing of the Covid19 curbs. In schools, offline teaching resumed for students of classes 8-12. Chirpy boys and girls in their uniforms started trooping to their schools since the morning, wearing masks and carrying sanitizers, as per Covid protocol. School staff was posted at the entry gates as they checked the body temperatures of each student with thermal gadgets and sprinkled sanitizers on their hands. Other educational institutions including colleges, universities, technical colleges, Industrial Training Institutes and polytechnics also opened for academic activities during the day. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had on Monday announced that schools (classed 8-12) and other educational institutions in the state would reopen from Thursday, considering the improvement in the Covid19 situation. The state government was yet to take any decision on resuming primary classes. For classes five to eight, arrangements for teaching have been made in the localities where students reside under a scheme Paray Shikshalaya (school in the neighbourhood) from Thursday. As Covid cases surged, the state government had closed all educational institutes from March 16, 2020. Colleges, universities and schools (standards 9-12) resumed physical classes from November 16,2021. However, they were closed down again from January 3 following an increase in Covid infection.