Higher secondary exams slated for June suspended
Bengal’s secondary and higher secondary examinations, which were due in June, will not be held, said an official of the state education department. “Due to lockdown being extended till May 30, it will lead to exam conducting bodies requiring more time to organise these exams,’’ said an official. The education department, in consultation with the boards concerned, will work out a reasonable time frame, said the official adding the students and their guardians will be given reasonably sufficient time to prepare.
Birla Hosps campaign for Covid-appropriate behaviour
CK Birla Hospitals carried out an extensive campaign by distributing free masks to enhance the awareness among citizens of Kolkata. The campaign was carried out at traffic signals, public transport depots and prominent roads of the state capital. Dr. Simmardeep Gill, the group chief operating officer, CK Birla Hospitals, said people of the city need to be aware of using masks to save themselves from Covid-19 infection. “In these trying times, we are barely able to keep our heads above water. We are in crisis. The number of infected people is rapidly rising at a time when we are facing an acute shortage of beds. At this hour of crisis, people need to be aware of using masks and follow basic precautions. This may erase the need to come to hospitals,’’ said Gill.
La Martiniere drops fees bomb on parents
The La Martiniere schools have announced a fee hike of up to Rs 50,000 a year over the concession given last year. Hundreds of parents complained it was an unfair decision. There were also questions whether such a hike was legally tenable after Kolkata HC’s intervention last year in response to a complaint by parents that in the absence of on-campus classes, schools should not charge fees like in normnal years. The fees for KG now stands at Rs 1,30,000 against Rs 79,200 ordered by the HC; for Class XII, the fees is Rs 1,06,000 against the Rs 69,000 after concession.
RT-PCR test accorded top priority by health dept
Samples for RT-PCR test from serious and ‘clinically unstable’ patients will have to be collected first and be accorded top priority, the Bengal health department has said in a recent advisory. “This has become extremely important to expedite the process of collection of RT-PCR testing samples to report generation of clinically unstable patients for quick medical intervention,” says the directive jointly issued by the state’s director of medical education and director of health services. The directive comes in the wake of the health department receiving several complaints about health institutions refusing to admit patients without a test result despite the state government’s instructions that all serious patients be admitted irrespective of test reports.
pranab mondal
Our correspondent in West Bengal pranabm@newindianexpress.com