Kolkata, Jant 24 (PTI) Opposition BJP on Tuesday slammed the West Bengal government's decision to launch the neighbourhood learning center project claiming that it will compromise the security of the students and the teachers alike.

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Party state spokesman Samik Bhattacharya told the media that the state government instead of ensuring that classes resume immediately in the educational institutions, is resorting to gimmicks like launching the neighbourhood learning project which will not benefit the vast majority of primary and pre-primary students.

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He claimed that the state government is dithering on the issue of reopening schools in phases thereby plunging the career of the students into uncertainty.

State Education Minister Bratya Basu had announced on January 24 that the project 'Paray Shikshalay' (learning center in the locality) will be launched in every block on February 7 and will benefit 60 lakh students at pre-primary and primary levels.

Bhattacharya said, "How can classes be held on open ground? Considering the volatile law and order situation in the state, what if a clash breaks out between two factions near the venue of an open air class? Students and teachers will be caught in the crossfire then".

Besides, classes in open grounds may not be congenial for the children's health as they would be exposed to infection by many diseases, including COVID-19, in the absence of proper sanitization.

"We are also not sure how the classes can be organised with infrastructure not in place everywhere. A classroom cannot be recreated in such way," the BJP leader said.

Basu had said that the government is aware that in the COVID situation a large number of students of many schools, specially in rural areas, are being deprived of class room teaching, which is impeding their growth. The government's initiative will enable students to attend classes in the open space in their own locality.

"Paray Shikshalay has been hailed by UNESCO,” he had said. http://ptinews.com/images/pti.jpg “We bring the World to you" Disclaimer : This e-mail message may contain proprietary, confidential or legally privileged information for the sole use of the person or entity to whom this message was originally addressed. Please delete this e-mail, if it is not meant for you. http://ptinews.com/images/pti.jpg “We bring the World to you" Disclaimer : This e-mail message may contain proprietary, confidential or legally privileged information for the sole use of the person or entity to whom this message was originally addressed. Please delete this e-mail, if it is not meant for you.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)