Silver Point School in Kasba, where a Class X student fell to his death earlier this week, issued a notice on Thursday (dated September 6) that the school shall “remain closed until further written notice”.
The notice read: “Dear Parents, Students and the entire Silver Point School Family, As you are aware, an unfortunate incident has occurred in the school premises on the 4th September, 2023, which has been reported in very poor light with speculations rife.
“The entire school is shocked, traumatised and injured by the incident as is
the family. We assure you that SILVER POINT SCHOOL holds the safety of their children with utmost priority. In order to cooperate with the ongoing investigation, the management, unanimously issues notice that SILVER POINT SCHOOL shall remain closed until further written notice.”
The notice was issued two days after Sk. Shan was found dead inside the school after his fall from the fifth floor of the building. His father has alleged that Shan had been killed.
The principal said the school will reopen once the police investigation is over. “We will reopen once the investigations are over and it is safe for all my dear students to return. Miss them all,” principal Sucharita Roychowdhury wrote to The Telegraph in a message.
The closure notice has been put up on the school gate and sent to parents. The notice was issued on Wednesday and sent out on Thursday.
The police said they had not asked the school authorities to close the school for the sake of investigation.
The closure of the school for an indefinite period has disturbed a section of parents.
Several of them said that such a notice creates more uncertainty. The half-yearly exams were scheduled to begin on September 11.
“We do not know when the school will reopen and when the students will have their exam,” said a father whose son is in Class VIII.
“If the school does not follow the schedule it will eat into the number of working days and make teachers rush through the syllabus later,” said another father.
The parent of a child in primary school said the death was “unfortunate” and “an incident like this makes us worried about the safety of our children, too”.
“We are apprehensive about the safety of our children,” said the parent.
The school authorities said they were not sure about when the school could reopen.
A father said: “A school cannot remain closed indefinitely. As it is, during Covid our kids missed out on in-person classes.”
The police on Thursday said their probe was on and they were examining several teachers and students in connection with the case.
“We examined some teachers on Thursday. They narrated what they knew about the incident and shared their thoughts about the deceased youth and the accused teachers,” said an officer in Lalbazar.
Students are also being examined, the officer said.
The family of the deceased has lodged an FIR against four persons, including the principal, vice-principal, maths teacher and the class teacher.
No one had been arrested till Thursday evening.