West Bengal School Reopening: SOP draft prepared, nod from secretariat awaited

In order to prevent COVID-19 spread, the draft SOP prepared by the department states that the offline classes are to be held in a staggered manner.

WB School Reopening: A tentative standard operating procedure (SOP) has been prepared by the West Bengal government's school education department regarding school reopening for higher classes from November 16 after the festive season. According to the reports, the department has sent the draft to the state secretariat 'Nabanna' for approval on October 28. In order to prevent COVID-19 spread, the draft SOP prepared by the department states that the offline classes are to be held in a staggered manner.

The other point that the SOP covers is that the students of Classes 9 and 10 will not be allowed to enter the school building at the same time. A gap of half an hour will be kept between their entries. Schools will be asked to follow similar procedures for Classes 11 and 12. The draft suggests that the total duration of tutorials for Classes 9 and 11 will be around 5 hours while that for Classes 10 and 12 will be about 6 hours. A  15-minute tiffin break will also be provided.

The draft with the recommendations has been sent to Nabanna. On October 25, 2021, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced that schools will reopen on November 16, after a gap of around 20 months. The minister also directed the chief secretary to facilitate the process.

Later, the school education department announced that offline classes will begin for Classes 9 to 12 from November 16. A decision on the reopening of schools for other classes will be made after analyzing the emergent COVID-19 situation.

Meanwhile, a joint press conference will be held on November 1 by West Bengal Council of Higher Secondary Education President Chiranjib Bhattacharya and West Bengal Board of Secondary Education President Kalyanmoy Ganguly on the conduct of WBBSE and WBCHSE respectively.

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