COVID-19: Bengal starts open-air classroom 'Paray Shikshalaya'

Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], January 7 (ANI): West Bengal government on Monday launched an open-air classroom programme Paray Shikshalaya (Neighbourhood Schools) for primary and pre-primary students, in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
"The Bengal government has decided to get children accustomed to the physical classes. For this, the government has selected clubs and parks to hold classes for standards 1 to 7. Under this, the students would be studying in an open area. The health risks will not be a problem as the COVID protocols are maintained," said Bengal Minister and Kolkata Mayor Firhad Hakim.

"The students were forced to stay back home due to the ongoing pandemic situation. Online classes were encouraged but students were found missing from their respective classes and not taking studies seriously. So the Bengal government has taken this step," added the Minister.
According to teachers, it is challenging to teach the students as many classes are going on simultaneously in the same area. "Chances of distraction is more but this initiative will help students again to get them back to the mainstream education", added Hakim.
A student said, "Due to COVID we were not able to go out of our house and we were missing friends. We are really happy to be back in the education environment." (ANI)