The closure of schools was prompted by the circulation of photographs of the bodies of two missing students, Luwangbi Linthoingambi Hijam (17) and Phijam Hemanjit (20), who had disappeared on July 6.
Imphal: The Manipur government on Thursday said that all state government/state government aided/private unaided schools will be reopened from October 6, 2023. This decision comes after the state education department had temporarily closed these schools on September 27 and September 29 due to fresh violence in the capital city of Imphal.
Schools were shut in Manipur after ethnic clashes erupted in the northeastern state on May 3. After remaining shut for over a couple of months due to the violence, schools were reopened across Manipur in July. It again closed on September 27, due to the students’ agitation demanding justice after two missing Meitei teenagers were found to have been killed.
“All state government/state government aided/private unaided schools in Manipur will re-open from 6th October 2023,” state director of education (schools) L Nadakumar Singh said in an order on Thursday.”
A notification from the government reads, “All State Government/ State Government Aided/Private Unaided Schools in Manipur will re-open from 6th October, 2023. 2. This is issued with the approval of the Government, Department of Education(S) conveyed in consultation with the Home Department Vide Letter No. MISCS/15/2023-EDN(5)-EDN(5) dated the 5th October, 2023.”
Earlier, the closure of schools was prompted by the circulation of photographs of the bodies of two missing students, Luwangbi Linthoingambi Hijam (17) and Phijam Hemanjit (20), who had disappeared on July 6. The images surfaced on social media on September 25, leading to fresh clashes in the region.
A Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)-led security forces team arrested four individuals in connection with the killing of the two students on October 1.
The state had previously witnessed months of ethnic violence, which had led to the closure of schools from May 4, 2023, onwards. After a two-month hiatus, normal classes for students in Class 1 to 8 had resumed on July 4, 2023.