A day after it was reported in these columns that RS Model Senior Secondary School in Shastri Nagar was open till 3.30pm for staff despite curfew, the school ordered shut down following intervention of the education department.
The decision came after the deputy commissioner sent a team of the education department to the school premises to conduct an inquiry. The school was found open for the third consecutive day on Wednesday. While the school closed at 11am instead of the usual 3.30 pm, authorities later sent a message to their staff stating that the school will remain closed from now onwards. The directions to close the school were issued by DC Varinder Kumar Sharma.
“We had sent a team to the school and directed them to shut down as no private school is allowed to remain open. We will take action if they still remain open,” said district education officer (DEO) Lakhvir Singh.
It was reported on May 11 that tossing all Covid norms to the wind, the government-aided private school had been calling its entire staff of around 70 teachers to school daily for taking online classes from the school premises despite strict curfew orders. Interestingly, the district education officer is on board on the school’s managing committee. The district administration only permits government school teachers to come to school at 50% strength and that too from 8 am to 11.15 am. The school remained open from Monday till Wednesday despite a number of its teachers isolating themselves.