A government primary school in Uttar Pradesh’s Deoria has been functioning for the last one month violating the COVID-19 norms, an inquiry revealed.

The inquiry was conducted after a photograph of the group of students sitting on the school campus went viral on Wednesday, September 9.

Gyan Chad Mishra, Additional Basic Shiksha Adhikari (ABSA), Deoria, conducted the inquiry and recommended the suspension of the school’s headmaster as well as advised the higher authorities to seek an explanation from the school management.

‘In the photograph, children were seen sitting on the verandah, and their books are open in front of them. To verify those photographs, I went to the school and found it was locked. I checked the background present in the photograph and found it was the same school building. I called up the headmaster, and asked him to immediately reach the school. In the meantime, I spoke to locals and came to know that students had been coming to the school since the last one month,’ said Mishra, reported The Indian Express.

The officer also stated that two teachers were taking classes and the school reportedly ran till1 pm on working days.

‘I also came to know that the headmaster was forcing the two to hold classes. The headmaster did not stay in the school when the classes were held,’ Mishra added.

However, the village chief Ishrat Jahan’s husband Aftab Alam denied the claims and said these were false allegations deliberately being made against the school staff.

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