Chennai: The Tamilnadu government today said schools and colleges in the State will not be reopened on 16 November.
“A decision on reopening the educational institutions will be taken later after assessing the situation,” the government said.
It is to be noted that the Madurai bench of Madras High Court on Wednesday suggested that the government reopen schools and colleges after December.
The State government had earlier permitted educational institutions in Tamilnadu to resume functioning from 16 November.
However, after it faced flak from multiple stakeholders, the state government had arranged for a public consultation at school level across the state on 12 November, in which parents and teachers were invited to offer their inputs on this decision by the government.
The feedback submitted by parents at State-wide consultative meetings on Monday ranged from urging the schools to reopen as some feared their children might permanently drop out of education, to some of them telling the State government to compensate them with Rs 5 crore in the extreme case of their wards’ death due to Covid, post reopening.
Parents who were for the reopening of schools attributed their decision, among other things, to the fact that students taking the board exams needed some form of face-to-face interaction with their teachers.
Those who opposed reopening of schools said they were not ready to take any chance when it comes to the health of their wards in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic.