Woman priest performs puja at Girls’ School
Saraswati Puja in schools is not new, but Garfa Dhirendranath Memorial Higher Secondary Girls' High School celebrated the puja in a different tone.
State government has allotted funds for repairing all schools across the state before reopening those after the puja vacation and has asked the respective district magistrates to take necessary measures.
Chief minister Mamata Banerjee has already announced that the State may reopen the educational institutions after the puja holidays, provided the Covid situation does not turn worse.
The schools are closed since March 2020. The state school education department has given “administrative approval and financial sanction” of Rs 109.42 crore for repairing 6468 secondary and higher secondary schools. It has issued directives to the district magistrates to take necessary action for repairing the schools in their respective jurisdictions before the Kali Puja.
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Earlier, the department had asked the district magistrates to report on the condition of schools and submit a cost estimate. “We are taking all possible measures so as to restore necessary infrastructure at the schools so that if the government gives the nod to reopen the institutes after the puja then physical classes can be resumed at the earliest. As per plans, the schools will first start with the classes IX, X, XI and XII,” said a school education department official.
The school buildings have suffered damages due to the effect of severe cyclonic storm Amphanthat had hit the state in May 2020 and Yaas that lashed the state in June this year. This apart, the school buildings have also been inundated due to flood-like situations in some districts this year. Several schools have served as relief camps and earlier as safe homes.
Of the total 16,500 secondary and higher secondary schools, 6468 institutions have been damaged the most. These are located near the coastal and riverine regions in the districts of South 24 Parganas, North 24 Parganas and East Midnapore and Howrah, Hooghly and West Midnapore along with Kolkata.
According to the official, the funds for repair will be sub- allotted through the respective district magistrates for the districts and SPD, PBSSM for Kolkata.
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