The state government will try to reopen schools and colleges “on alternate days” after the Puja vacation, chief minister Mamata Banerjee said on Thursday.

“After the Puja vacation, we will try to reopen schools and colleges on alternate days,” Mamata Banerjee said at Nabanna following a meeting with the state's global advisory board on Covid-19, headed by Nobel laureate Abhijit Vinayak Banerjee.

“Diwali is in early November. The state government is considering the possibility of reopening schools and colleges after that,” an official in the education department said.

Abhijit Vinayak Banerjee, who attended the meeting at the state secretariat, said the chief minister had informed them that the state government was considering the possibility of reopening schools.

In Bengal, schools affiliated to the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education had resumed in-person classes for students of Classes IX to XII from February 12.

But the classes were suspended on April 21 following the state government’s decision to bring forward the summer vacation because of a renewed rise in the number of Covid cases.

Students of Classes III to VIII and those in colleges and universities have been away from campuses since March 2020.

An official in the education department said: “Education in schools has taken a major hit. Attending classes on digital platforms is not possible for a large section of students as they cannot afford a smartphone or a data pack. So reopening schools is a must, but the possibility of infection through assembly cannot be ruled out. Therefore, the government is exercising caution.”

The state has around 59,000 primary and 18,000 secondary schools, close to 550 colleges and more than 40 universities.

The colleges have been asked to start receiving online applications for admission to first-year classes on August 2. Classes will start on October 1.

A college principal said that since a good number of students encountered digital hurdles and were unable to attend classes on online platforms, in-person classes should resume at the earliest.

“We are more worried about students pursuing science and engineering. Their studies are suffering because they cannot access laboratories and workshops. They are eagerly looking forward to resumption of in-person classes,” he said.

The headmaster of a school in central Calcutta said reopening of campuses, particularly for Classes X and XII, was required so the students could undergo as many internal assessments as possible.

“If the Class X and XII board exams are cancelled next year, too, the scores in the internal assessments will determine their board performance,” he said.

“As the schools did not conduct enough internal tests when they reopened briefly earlier this year and restricted themselves to conducting classes and practicals, the exam-conducting bodies did not have enough data while evaluating the students. While preparing the HS results, the higher secondary council gave 40 per cent weightage to a student’s performance in the Class X board exams and 60 per cent to Class XI annual exam marks,” he said.

The secondary education board prepared Madhyamik mark sheets this year awarding equal weightage to a candidate’s performance in Class IX annual exams and internal formative assessments of Class X.

In July last year, Mamata had said the state government might reopen schools and colleges on September 5 if the Covid situation improved. That did not happen as cases kept rising.