Aishwarya Rathore-

Published on: September 1, 2021, at 15:19 IST

A two-judge Bench of the Telangana High Court, led by Acting Chief Justice M. S. Ramchandra Rao and Justice T. Vinod Kumar, issued a series of directions on a Government memo pertaining to the re-opening of all schools in the State.

The Government issued a Memo on August 24th directing the State to reopen all schools, Anganwadis, and colleges on September 1, enabling 100% attendance.

The Panel was dealing with a Writ petition filed by B. Krishna Mandapati contesting the Memo issued by the Government. 

Senior Counsel L. Ravichander, representing the petitioner, raised a number of issues including how the Government issued the present memo without drafting any Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for the Schools.

The Court directed, “No school students, either Private or Government, shall be compelled to attend School. Furthermore, no private or public school should impose any kind of penalty on students who do not attend physical classes.”

The Court added, “Guidelines must be issued for schools that will reopen and the rules must be made public. There are fears of a third Covid-19 wave in September and October.”

In addition, the commencement of off-line classes in Government and social welfare institutions, as well as Government residential schools, as mandated by the Memo, has been stayed until further Orders.

The Court also ordered the Expert Advisory Committee formed under the Disaster Management Act to submit its recommendations for reopening the schools to the panel.

The matter will be next heard on October 4.

Click here to read/download the Order

Also Read:Karnataka HC stays on Govt Ban on Online Classes until Physical classes resume