Schools wait for West Bengal nod to resume practicals – Times of India

Kolkata: Though one prominent city school has started its practical classes on campus attended by small groups of students, others have decided to wait and watch. Most schools said parents were willing to send their wards if the schools followed sanitization protocols.
Loreto House has started holding practical classes in its laboratories for Class XII (science) girls in small batches since Thursday after taking consent from all parents. The school is affiliated to CISCE, which has science practicals as part of the ISC (XII) board examinations. The school felt that students are totally out of touch with the practicals and need on-site practice and asked parents if they would be willing to send their girls. All parents consented after they were satisfied with the sanitization and other measures that the school had taken. Principal Aruna Gomes said the practical classes will happen for five working days before the winter break.
The only other Loreto School that has science as part of its curriculum is Loreto Bowbazar, where board-year students are being called to school in batches to submit projects and practical files that will be sent to the council. During a few days in October when the girls came in, they were given on-site practical classes by the teachers, said principal Purbita Bagchi. “We are still hesitant about calling them for practical classes though we have parental consent. We are waiting for further clarity both from the state and the Council,” she said.
Rammohan Mission School principal Sujoy Biswas, too, has parents’ consent to start practical classes on campus but is waiting for instructions from the state. “Both parents and kids are worried about the practicals in the Class XII boards because this is a scoring portion and most have called in to say that they are willing to come for classes. However, we are waiting for the state nod,” he said. Even Class X board examinees need to come to campus to engage with teachers and Biswas hopes for greater clarity soon.
Modern High School has opted to be extra careful in this matter and wants for the state government’s reply to the Council’s request of re-opening campuses on January 4. “As of now there is no permission and I am sure by January 4 we will have greater clarity,” said director Devi Kar. Science teachers will come to school from January and demonstrate experiments from the labs at St James School, principal Terence Ireland said. “For the submission of practical files, we will call kids in small numbers from January,” he said.