Summary
Copies of the notice were sent to the president/secretary of the Central Board of Secondary Education, New Delhi, and the chief executive officer, Council of the Indian School Certificate Examination, New Delh
Chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday extended the summer vacation in all schools — government, government-aided and private — till June 15 citing a “heat wave”.
The decision came a day after the school education department said schools affiliated to the state secondary education board would reopen on June 5 after an extended summer vacation that started on May 2.
The chief minister said at Nabanna: “As the heat wave is continuing and considering the inputs we have received from the meteorological department about the continuance of the heat wave, it has been decided that government and private schools will reopen on June 15 (Thursday) instead of June 5 (for government and aided secondary schools) and June 7 (for government and aided primary schools).”
“I am appealing to the government and private schools to reopen on June 15. The summer vacation has been extended by 10 days.”
Hours after Mamata’s announcement, a secretary in the school education department issued a notice which said: “This is to inform you that... the competent authority has decided to reopen all government, government-aided, government-sponsored/private schools with effect from June 15...."
Copies of the notice were sent to the president/secretary of the Central Board of Secondary Education, New Delhi, and the chief executive officer, Council of the Indian School Certificate Examination, New Delhi.
Many of the private schools were to reopen on June 12 after a month-long summer vacation.
The temperature in Calcutta on Wednesday was 37.4 degrees Celsius, two notches above normal. The maximum humidity was 90 per cent, leading to a high level of perspiration. The conditions were equally oppressive on Tuesday.
The temperature is likely to go up, the Met office has said.
Some of the private schools said they would stick to their original calendar "as of now".
Modern High School for Girls, Don Bosco Park Circus, St Lawrence High School are scheduled to open on June 19.
"We were scheduled to reopen on June 13 (for children), but if there is a request from the government, we will abide by it. We will wait for the notification to take a decision," said Supriyo Dhar, secretary, La Martiniere schools.
Indus Valley World School said they would conduct online classes if they can't reopen on June 12, as scheduled.
"If by June 12 there are favourable weather conditions, we would look forward to the government reconsidering the decision. If not, we will have online classes till June 15," said Amita Prasad, director, Indus Valley World School.
For about a week from April 17, several private schools conducted online classes as the campuses had to be shut down following a government order because of a heat spell.
When the schools reopened after that break, most followed their usual schedule. Private schools continued with in-person classes till the second or third week of May before closing for summer vacation.
Some of them had followed an early dispersal schedule.
Private schools in the city usually have a one-month summer vacation
"There is only a difference of a couple of days from when we were scheduled to reopen and when the government is requesting us to reopen. If the weather is not favourable, we will announce a half-day," said Terence Ireland, principal, St James' School.
Saugata Basu, general secretary of the West Bengal Government School Teachers’ Association said: “Students will suffer because of such whimsical decisions.... The education department makes an announcement and the chief minister strikes it down the next day."
Last updated on 01 Jun 2023
