Kolkata: Extend summer holidays, schools told – Times of India

KOLKATA: The state government on Monday announced the extension of summer vacation for schools from June 15 to June 26, citing a heatwave-like condition. While a section of parents is relieved, schools in the city that opened on Monday and others that are due to open later in the week hope to switch to online classes to make up for the loss in class time as the government had asked schools to declare the summer break nearly a fortnight before the due date.
The extended holiday also led to the postponement of Class-XI practical examinations that were scheduled to be over by June 30. The results were to be declared by July 7. Now, schools have to complete the exams by July 11 and publish results by July 18.
The summer holiday extension notice was sent by the state school education department to not only government-funded and -aided schools but to schools affiliated to CBSE and CISCE boards as well.
With monsoon set to arrive in south Bengal within the next couple of days, schools are keeping their fingers crossed and hoping the state will reconsider the decision.
Sources in government said the decision was prompted by CM Mamata Banerjee’s concern over Sunday’s incident at Panihati, in which three devotees had died due to excessive heat and crowding. Others said the government was also concerned about students getting caught in the ongoing protests against comments made by BJP leader Nupur Sharma.
Some parents said it would not be a bad idea to let the turmoil pass before schools reopened. But, school authorities were concerned about the difficulty in completing the syllabus.
Loreto House that opened on Monday declared in the evening that it would stay shut on Tuesday. Ram Mohan Mission School that had planned to reopen from June 15 has decided to start online classes now and reopen in physical mode only after June 26.
While Calcutta Boys’ School had opened on June 8, Birla High School, too, started offline classes on Monday. DPS Ruby Park that commenced online classes from Monday was scheduled to start offline classes from Thursday. St James’ School was also scheduled to resume junior and senior classes from Wednesday. DPS Newtown is due to resume classes from Tuesday. These schools have not yet announced their plans.
Only La Martiniere schools maintained that they would reopen on Tuesday as scheduled.
Junior sections of South Point School are set to reopen from Wednesday, while senior section has vacation till end of June. The school authority is rethinking whether junior classes will resume.
“We are having full-fledged classes from June 8. Most of the classes are on-site and a few classes are happening online,” said Raja McGee, principal, Calcutta Boys’ School.
An appeal has been sent to the CM by Advanced Society for Headmasters and Headmistresses for reconsideration of the extended summer vacation.