High Court Enquires About Reopening of Schools

The Telangana High Court today sought clarifications from the state government regarding the proposed reopening of educational institutions in the state.

Education department secretary Sandeep Kumar Sultania, who appeared before the court for the hearing, was asked if the government was planning to allow the students of all grades to attend on-site classes from July 1.

Responding to this, the secretary told the HC that the specific terms and guidelines on the reopening would be formulated and finalised within the next two or three days. He also clarified that the students would be under no compulsion to attend the offline classes, and added that the ongoing online classes would be continued even after the reopening of educational institutions.

Further, Sultania said that the managements of the educational institutions would be required to get the consent of the students' guardians before allowing them (the students) to attend physical classes.

After hearing what the secretary had to say, the court opined that it would be difficult for the students to maintain social distance in the classrooms.

To this, he responded by saying that the guidelines which were currently in the process of being formulated would take into consideration the concerns of the court.

The HC then asked the government to submit a report on the issue within a week.