The High Court of Calcutta on Thursday disposed of a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) challenging the decision of the West Bengal government to reopen schools for the students of 11th and 12th, observing that the seeker is not at all affected by it in any way. A petition was earlier filed asking to open classes for higher classes. A division bench comprising Chief Justice Prakash Shrivastava and Justice R Bharadwaj said that parents or students can reach to authorities if they have any issue over the recommencement of on-campus classes.
Describing the West Bengal school education board’s decision to reopen educational centres from November 16th as “unscientific”, a PIL has been filed by a lawyer before the high court seeking the formation of an expert committee to review the COVID-19 situation and offer all the necessary suggestions to the government, which could help in deciding on the decision of reopening classes for the students.
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The lawyer stated that as the students up to the age of 18 years are still not vaccinated, there are chances of transmission of coronavirus infection among them. The West Bengal Board of Secondary Education on October 29th had issued a notification which stated that schools for the students of classes 9th to 12th will reopen from November 16th following certain COVID-19 protocols. It established different time slots for both, secondary and higher secondary students.
Meanwhile, welcoming the decision as taken by the high court, Education Minister Bratya Basu said that the government had left the further decision to the parents or guardians to decide upon whether the online classes are to be attended or not.
