The full education system in Bengal has been permitted to resume in-person classes from February 16 after a Covid-induced gap of almost two years.

Pre-primary and upper primary classes, now being held in the open air by government schools, can resume indoor sessions from Wednesday, the Bengal government announced on Monday.

“Additional relaxations are hereby notified with effect from February 16…. reopening of all primary (from pre-primary to Class V) and upper primary (Class VI to VII) schools. A separate standard operating procedure (SOP) will be issued by the school education department in this regard,” said a government notice.

An official of the state education department said 100 per cent attendance would be allowed. Notices issued by the state primary and secondary education boards said that students should report half an hour before normal school hours, and classes would be held from Mondays to Saturdays maintaining all Covid norms and protocols.

The higher levels had already resumed in-person sessions from February 3 although many private schools are still relying largely on online classes.

On Monday, several private schools said they would follow the government order and start calling in students immediately, either this week or from next week.

Some of them will conduct internal meetings in the next couple of days to decide when students can be brought back to campus.

But some of the schools will wait till the new academic session to call the primary and middle school pupils back on campus. The head of one school said the institution was “just about managing Classes IX to XII”.

The Heritage School will start in-person sessions for Classes I to IV from Wednesday and the La Martiniere schools and South City International are expected to do so shortly.

“We are starting with online exams for Classes V to VII and we would continue with that and not disturb them now but call them after their exams are over,” said Seema Sapru, principal of The Heritage School.

St James’ School and St Xavier’s Collegiate School will call students back only when the new academic session starts in April. “Parents might still be apprehensive to send children to school; we faced that reluctance for Classes IX and XI,” said Terence Ireland, principal of St James’.

Sri Sri Academy will call students for a few days now, preparing them for the new session in April. “We call the primary children for storytelling sessions, using the playground, but we will not rush now because parents would also need time,” said principal Suvina Shunglu.

The standard operating procedure issued by the state education department asks the schools to take steps to start a cleanliness drive on the campus and reopen hostels wherever necessary.

“In-person classes for the students of Classes VIII to XII had started from February 3. No (Covid) cases have been reported among the students till now. Since the situation is not deemed problematic, a decision has been taken to resume classes for the primary and upper primary level,” an official said.