Kolkata schools to go back offline from Monday – Times of India

KOLKATA: Schools affiliated to the Church of North India (CNI) have decided to return to offline classes from Monday, June 20, as have some other non-CNI schools in the city.
Several CNI schools had opened for offline classes earlier this week but had to then revert to online classes following a notification from the state education department on June 13 directing schools to extend the summer vacation till June 26, citing weather conditions.
But with showers over the past few days and monsoon expected to hit the city sometime this weekend, Bishop Paritosh Canning, the head of the Diocese of Calcutta, sent a message to various school heads, instructing that they reopen the schools and begin offline/in-person classes from Monday for students of all classes.
Among the schools under CNI that are set to start offline classes are La Martinere for Boys, La Martinere for Girls, St James’, Pratt Memorial, Scottish Church Collegiate School, Union Chapel and St Paul’s Mission school.
St James’ principal Terence Ireland said: “The weather has improved and therefore, the school will reopen on Monday so that students can return to in-person learning.”
La Martinere for Boys has also announced the schedule of unit tests for classes VI to XII. Earlier, schools had postponed the exams due to the government notification.
The two La Martinere schools had reopened for offline classes on June 14 but switched to online classes the next day. Supriyo Dhar, secretary, said, “The government order was for state schools. It was in the form of an advisory to the CISCE. We went by the state advice. Now the weather has also improved. The parents were getting anxious. Hence the decision.”
Apart from CNI schools, several other institutions, including Modern High School for Girls and Future Foundation, will also start offline classes from Monday.
Rammohan Mission School plans to commence in-person classes from Wednesday.
“In view of the improving weather conditions, the school will physically open from Monday, June 20. The class timetable will be shared in due course,” Future Foundation school pricipal Ranjan Mitter informed the guardians through a message on Friday.
Don Bosco Park Circus and Lakshmipat Singhania Academy, Alipore, have convened meetings on Saturday to decide on the future course of action.
CISCE and CBSE schools usually have classes for 210-220 days a year in addition to exam dates, weekends and various holidays and breaks. Though the duration of summer holiday is not defined, usually the break is for one month. However, this year, it was extended to nearly two months from May 2 to June 26 following the government notifications.
While the school education department is yet to react to the decision of individual schools to open despite its advice of extending the summer break till June 26, it had earlier expressed its displeasure when schools had decided not to shut down after the government had announced an early closure for summer vacation from May 2. School heads had then been called to Bikash Bhavan where they were asked to shut down schools immediately. Schools had thereafter shifted to online classes till the onset of the scheduled summer vacation in mid-May.