SC has not ordered school closure till Jan 2022, viral claims are false

Social media users are sharing a video whose thumbnail reads, "Schools closed from tomorrow till January 2022 - Supreme Court.''

A Facebook user wrote, "From tomorrow all schools closed till January 2022".

The same video is also circulating on WhatsApp.

Apart from this, the video carries three stories. One is about UNESCO. It said schools had to be closed in 191 countries due to Covid. The second story is about students in Delhi and Himachal Pradesh testing positive for Covid. The third is about the Delta variant in America. It said Covid infected children number has crossed 6 million.

FACT CHECK:

Firstly, the claim that the Supreme Court has announced the closure of schools till January 2022 is false. No such announcement has been made. Last month, the Court announced that the judiciary will not interfere with state governments' decision to open schools.

State governments have to make their own respective decisions. Schools have started opening in a few states after the drop in Covid-19 cases and an increase in the vaccination drive. Schools across various states are resuming physical classes amid Covid safety protocols. However, students are not compelled to attend and can opt for online classes with the consent of their parents.

Moreover, Union health and family welfare minister Mansukh Mandaviya has asked states to vaccinate all school teachers. (Source: The Hindu, Indian Express, Live Mint)

Clearly, the claim is false. Schools can function if the respective state governments decide to resume offline classes.

Secondly, the viral video is not a complete broadcast. Three different old news videos have been combined to make it seem like one news broadcast. Different news stories on the situation of students during the pandemic have been combined to amplify the claim of the Supreme Court shutting down schools.

It can be noticed that the words 'Breaking news' has been written separately in capital letters apparently to hide the name of the channel from where the videos have been taken.

The clipping on UNESCO making a statement that schools had to be closed in 191 countries due to Covid is from a news bulletin by 'TV9 Bharatvarsh' dated 23 May 2021. The first 28 seconds portion of the viral video has been taken from here.

The clipping on several students in Delhi and Himachal Pradesh testing positive for Covid is from a news bulletin of 'TV9 Bharatvarsh' dated 5 April 2021. At that time nine children had tested positive in a school in Delhi and 99 in a school in Chamba, Himachal Pradesh.

The clipping on Covid infected children crossing 6 million due to the Delta variant in America is from a news bulletin by 'TV9 Bharatvarsh' dated 16 October 2021. Around 60 lakh students were infected.

Clearly, three different news reports were edited into one.