Even as the Telangana government is gearing up for reopening of all the educational institutions from primary to post-graduation in the state from Wednesday, the state high court on Tuesday ordered the government not to insist on compulsory running of classes in the government and private schools.
However, the state high court gave strict instructions to the government not to reopen the residential schools in the state.
In its interim orders, the high court said other government and private schools could be reopened, but they will have the choice of holding physical or virtual classes or a combination of the two modes.
The court said the parents have the right to send their children to school or not to send.
No parent will be forced to send their children to school and that neither institution nor students would be punished if they do not attend classes.
The high court expressed doubts over the implementation of guidelines.
It wondered whether the government will be able to monitor all schools and have so many officers to oversee the health status of the students.
“How about rural areas and how will they manage Covid-19 protocols? Who will manage that children wear masks all day and maintain social distancing,” the bench asked.
The bench felt that the government was not working properly for facilitating the schools to open again. There is no standard operating procedure (SOP) given by the government.
The GO does not mention any procedures how they will address the whole situation.
The GO does not indicate if they had any meeting with any school managements also with respect to the way forward, the court said.
The court has posted the case to October 4 for further hearing.
It asked the government to submit a report on the status of the preparedness in the government schools.