The Telangana High Court on Tuesday said that there will be no physical reopening of all residential schools in the state unless the state government submits all measures it has taken to prevent the spread of Covid-19. A two-judge panel of the Telangana High Court, comprising Acting Chief Justice M S Ramchandra Rao and Justice T Vinod Kumar, issued a number of directions on the government's August 24 Memo related to the reopening of all schools in the state beginning September 1. The government issued a memo instructing all government and private schools in the state to begin offline classes on September 1. The panel was hearing a writ petition filed by B. Krishna Mandapati, who was contesting the memo.

The panel issued a direction after considering all the pleas that no students in private or government schools should be compelled to attend school physically and there should not be any kind of penalty on students for not attending school. It also stated that the government cannot penalise any school for not conducting offline classes. The panel further instructed the school not to insist on any undertaking from the parents, and if such an undertaking is obtained, it will be invalid.

The panel directed that all schools should follow the precautions and safety guidelines to run physical classes. And it also stated that schools can continue both online classes and physicals classes, as per the convenience of the students. The panel also instructed the State to develop and implement SOPs for schools, which all schools must strictly follow. The panel asked the state to file its counter, as well as all facts and actions carried out by the state to create infrastructure for children, notably pediatric care.

Senior Counsel L Ravichander, standing for the petitioner, raised many issues with the panel, including how the government issued the current letter without establishing any SOPs for the institution. It was also mentioned to the panel that it would be difficult for students, particularly primary and pre-primary school-aged children, to maintain physical distance while wearing masks.