Declaring further relaxation is pandemic norms, Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday announced the reopening of schools and colleges from February 3.
Schools --- from class 8 to 12 --- and Colleges in the State would open form February 3 the Chief Minister told in a press conference adding decisions to order some more relaxations had also been taken invarious sectors including aviation.
The Government had yet not decided on the opening of the primary classes, she said adding classes 5-7 would be taught under a Government scheme Paray Shikkhalaya whereby assemblies of students would get their lessons in neighbourhood clusters.
“We cannot close schools indefinitely… as corona cases have decreased we have decided to open schools, colleges and universities on the basis of discussions with the education department. Schools and colleges will be opened from February 3. Because Saraswati Puja is on February 5 students will be able to take part in it in their schools and other educational institutions…” the Chief Minister said.
The Government and private offices, bars, restaurants and cinema halls can hence forward work with 75 per cent attendance, she said adding the State was witnessing a reduction in daily corona cases. Airservice between Kolkata and all other cities --- except Bangalore ---would resume she said.
As per the State health department's most recent Covid-19 bulletin,West Bengal has 31,562 active cases of infection. The recovery rate for novel corona virus patients in the State stands at 97.38 per cent,while the fatality rate is 1.03 per cent.