Most government and aided schools that switched to a morning shift last week because of the heatwave have decided to resume normal school hours from Monday.
Several parts of south Bengal and Calcutta received rain on Thursday, which brought relief from the heat.
Some of the schools that have yet to decide said they are keeping a watch on how the weather unfolds in the next few days.
The school education department had on June 12 advised government and government-aided schools to tweak their June timings factoring in the “local weather condition”.
The headmistress of a government-aided primary school in Naktala in south Calcutta said classes would start at 10.30am on Monday, “like they used to”.
“The education department had told schools to decide class hours based on local factors. It rained on Thursday in Calcutta, bringing the temperature and humidity down. So we have decided to resume the normal school hours,” said the headmistress.
The headmaster of a government-aided higher secondary school in Hooghly said: “We will start classes at 10.45am on Monday. We spoke with teachers and parents before taking the decision.”
Ashim Nanda, the headmaster of Dum Dum Shree Aurobindo Vidyamandir, said they would "decide by early next week" whether to shift back to normal timings.
The schools opened for physical classes on June 10 after the completion of a prolonged summer vacation that started on April 22.
A headmaster said the latest notice on school timings was unique, considering that the schools were asked to take the decision.
“Usually, it is blanket instruction for all schools except those in the hills. Now we are exercising our options,” he said.
Over the past week, south Bengal has suffered extreme heat while the north has been battered by rain.
A school education department official said the weather in large parts of south Bengal has “changed significantly” from what it was on June 12.
“It is no longer extremely hot and humid. Schools are free to restore their normal timings. We will not extend the summer vacation anymore,” said the official.
