West Bengal School Reopening: PIL filed in Calcutta High Court over school reopening

The petitioner also claimed that children up to the age of 18 years have not been vaccinated yet and physical classes will only increase the chances of COVID-19 transmission among them.

A PIL has been filed before the Calcutta High Court describing the West Bengal school education board's decision to reopen institutions from November 16 as unscientific. The PIL has also sought the formation of an expert committee for reviewing the COVID-19 situation and providing necessary recommendations to the government on the same matter.

The petitioner also claimed that children up to the age of 18 years have not been vaccinated yet and physical classes will only increase the chances of COVID-19 transmission among them. On October 29, the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education had issued a notification for reopening of schools for students of classes 9 to 12 from November 16 with certain guidelines on maintenance of COVID-19 protocols.

It specified different time slots for secondary and higher secondary students. While urging that the notice be quashed, the petitioner sought the appointment of an expert committee that would assess the current situation and then provide suggestions to the government. The public interest litigation (PIL) said that the government should go by the recommendations of the committee and take its decision on reopening schools accordingly. The petitioner, a lawyer by profession, said that the PIL is likely to be mentioned before the court of the chief justice later this week.

Earlier, a tentative standard operating procedure (SOPs) was released by the West Bengal government's school education department regarding school reopening for higher classes from November 16 after the festive season. As per 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.

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