Social Welfare schools get High Court nod to resume offline classes

Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court on Wednesday allowed the state government to reopen all residential educational institutions, amending its earlier orders restraining it from reopening those schools.

A division bench comprising Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice A. Rajashekar Reddy issued the order permitting the authorities to open all government residential schools, social welfare and tribal welfare schools with hostel facilities. However, the court made it clear to conduct both physical and online classes.

Earlier on August 31, a division bench had restrained the government from opening residential schools on the ground that there was no proper infrastructure in place and the children in hostels might not maintain social distancing, thus becoming carriers of Covid-19 and super spreaders.   

On Wednesday, B.S. Prasad, advocate general, informed the court that all precautionary measures were being taken to equip schools with good infrastructure. He assured the court that social distancing would be maintained among children and SOPs issued by the state would be adhered to scrupulously to keep Covid-19 at bay.

L. Ravichander, senior counsel appearing for the petitioner Balakrishna Mandapati, who sought a stay on the memo dated August 24, issued by the secretary for state education, about opening of all schools and educational institutions in the state, submitted to the court that the children had not yet been vaccinated and there was quite different situation in the field level.  

The senior counsel averred that the residential schools should be directed to continue physical as well as online classes and requested the court to keep the PIL pending so that it could monitor the ground situation.