Physical attendance not mandatory in schools: Gujarat Government to High Court

A circular released by the government, which came into effect on February 15, said that the schools will not be conducting online classes amid the declining cases of the novel coronavirus.

Gujarat School Reopening 2022: Physical attendance not mandatory for students of the schools affiliated to the state education board for the current academic year, the government of Gujarat informed the state High Court on Wednesday. PIL challenging a government circular making physical attendance compulsory in schools was being heard by a division bench of Chief Justice Aravind Kumar and Justice Ashutosh Shastri.

The circular released by the government, which came into effect on February 15, said that the schools will not be conducting online classes amid the declining cases of the novel coronavirus. An order was released by the High Court earlier questioning the circular, stating that the risk of the COVID-19 pandemic remained.

Order not applicable on CBSE or ICSE affiliated schools.

While the number of novel coronavirus cases has declined, the threat of the pandemic’s fourth wave remains.

"Attendance is not mandatory for the purpose of examination. In that view, each parent can take a call. Attendance is not mandatory, and schools would not be taking any exception to this," government pleader Manisha Lavkumar Shah told the court on Wednesday.

Taking the government’s submission on record, the Court said, “attendance for physical appearance in the school for the academic year 2021-2022 would not be compulsory and it is left to the discretion of the respective schools and the parents."

However, the Court said that this will not be applicable to CBSE or ICSE affiliated schools.

The government pleader also talked about the discontinuation of online classes as per a notification issued on the basis of communication of the central government. The court denied going into that issue.

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