COVID-19: West Bengal government to roll out open-air classes for primary school students

KOLKATA: The West Bengal education department is all set to roll out a new initiative called 'Paray Sikshalay' (neighbourhood school) under which primary and pre-primary students of state-run schools will be given lessons in open spaces, an official here said on Sunday. The project, having received the approval of state secretariat 'Nabanna', would be roping in para-teachers and primary school teachers to impart elementary education to students of classes 1 to 5.

"Children have long been deprived of tutorial lessons owing to the COVID-19 pandemic-induced restrictions. We have now decided hold classes on open ground," he said. Besides elementary education, students would be encouraged to participate in extracurricular activities such as elocution and painting, the official added.

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The West Bengal government had implemented strict COVID regulations closing down all schools, colleges and other educational institutions on January 3, 2022, owing to the surge in COVID cases across the state. The closure was further extended till January 31 but allowed administration of all educational institutions to operate with 50 per cent of the staff capacity.

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West Bengal registered 6,980 new COVID-19 cases with 36 fatalities on January 23. Currently, as many as 1,10,183 active cases are there in the state, said a COVID bulletin from the West Bengal health department.

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