Bihar Education Department has not issued this press release ordering complete shutdown of schools - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
March 22, 2021
An image of a notification letter is being shared on social media claiming it as a press release from the Bihar Education Project Council, ordering the complete shutdown of schools from 19 March 2021 to 15 June 2021. In the wake of rising COVID-19 cases in the country, this post claims it as the Bihar Government’s move to contain the spread of the COVID-19 cases. Let’s verify the claim made in the post.
Claim: Bihar Education Project Council’s latest press release announcing the complete shutdown of schools till 15 June 2021.
Fact: The letter shared in the post is a fake one. In a tweet, the Bihar Education Department clarified that Bihar Government has not taken any such decision to shut down the schools and colleges again in the state. Bihar Education Department mentioned this letter as a fake one. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
When we searched for this press release on the Bihar official Government website, it is found that Bihar Government has not issued any such press release on their website. On observing the letter carefully, we could see a paragraph of this letter mentioning the school’s shutdown date till 15 June 2021. In another paragraph, this letter mentioned the shutdown date till 15 April 2021. Also, a lot of spelling mistakes can be found in this letter. No official press release or notification from the state Governments usually has such errors.
When this letter was widely circulated on social media, Bihar Education Department through a tweet, clarified it as a fake letter. Bihar Education Department informed people that the Bihar Government has not taken any such decision to shut down schools and colleges again in the state. From all these pieces of evidence, the letter shared in the post can be concluded as a fake one.
Social Media में  बिहार शिक्षा परियोजना परिषद के एक फर्जी पत्र द्वारा #COVID19 के कारण स्कूल बंद किये जाने की बात वायरल की जा रही है वो गलत है और शिक्षा विभाग उसका खंडन करता है।
➡️अफवाहों से बचें।#BiharEducationDept @sanjayjavin @NitishKumar @EduMinOfIndia @IPRD_Bihar pic.twitter.com/mwUDL5afGE
In the wake of rising COVID-19 cases, Bihar CM Nitish Kumar informed media that every citizen who is coming to Bihar from other states to celebrate Holi will get tested for the COVID-19 virus. CM Nitish Kumar reiterated that Bihar Government is not planning to implement lockdown again and said the educational institutions in the state will remain open.
To sum it up, the Bihar Education Department has not issued this press release ordering the complete shutdown of schools.