Kolkata, Jan 23 (PTI) The West Bengal education department is all set to roll out a new initiative --"Paray Sikshalay" (neighborhood school) -- under which primary and pre-primary students of state-run schools will be given lessons in open spaces, an official here said on Sunday. The project, having received the approval of state secretariat "Nabanna", would be roping in para-teachers and primary school teachers to impart elementary education to students of classes 1 to 5. "Children have long been deprived of tutorial lessons owing to the COVID-19 pandemic-induced restrictions. We have now decided hold classes on open ground," he said. Besides elementary education, students would be encouraged to participate in extracurricular activities such as elocution and painting, the official added. PTI SUS RMS RMS