Summary
Schools will now be on vacation from May 6 to June 2, instead of May 9 to May 20
The school education department has extended the summer vacation in government and government-aided schools because of the Lok Sabha elections.
Schools will now be on vacation from May 6 to June 2, instead of May 9 to May 20.
The earlier roster was announced on December 23, before the announcement of the dates of the seven-phase Lok Sabha elections in Bengal, an education department official said.
A notice signed by the deputy secretary (academic) of the secondary education board on Monday says: “Summer holidays stand revised from 6th May 2024 (Monday) to 2nd June (Sunday) (22 days excluding holidays and Sundays). This is issued in partial modification of this office notification....”
Bengal, along with Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, will vote in every leg of the seven-phase polls that start on April 19 and will go on till June 1.
In Bengal, the contest for the 42 parliamentary seats involving around 7.6 crore
voters will be spread over 44 days. The two seats in Calcutta — South and
North — and those on the city’s fringes — Jadavpur and Dum Dum — go to the polls on June 1.
“We had to revise the schedule because most schools are going to be used as
polling booths. Since the summer vacation has to be uniform across the state, it has been decided that schools will resume their classes on June 3 after the summer vacation,” said an official in the school education department.
Schools in three north Bengal districts — Cooch Behar, Alipurduar and Jalpaiguri — will have additional holidays from April 16 to April 20 because of the polls there on April 19.
The secondary education board’s notice says: “Schools shall remain closed
between April 24 and April 27, only in the districts of Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Uttar (North) Dinajpur, Dakshin (South) Dinajpur, going for elections in phase 2,
scheduled to be held on 26th April.”
The schools will be occupied by central paramilitary forces well before the polling days and, therefore, the institutions will remain closed in these districts, said a board official.
“There is no need for additional holidays in the remaining districts because the summer vacation will start a day before the third phase of the polls, scheduled for May 3,” the official said.
The central forces started arriving as early as the first week of March in Calcutta and the surrounding areas.
Metro reported on March 2 that Bethune Collegiate School in north Calcutta had to suspend classes up to Class VIII for the time being as the central forces set up their base on the premises.
The school has since been conducting classes twice a week for students up to Class VIII.
The extension of the summer vacation has left many parents worried about whether teachers would be able to cover the entire syllabus.
Malancha Majumdar, a member of the Guardian’s Forum of Bethune Collegiate School, which had written to the chief election commissioner about central forces taking over the school premises, said: “Our students have been suffering since early March because of the early arrival of the central forces. Now the revised schedule of the summer vacation has been announced. I wonder how the syllabus will be completed.”
Last updated on 02 Apr 2024
