The Jharkhand government has revised school timings in view of heat wave conditions and following persistent demands from parents and school staff.

“I had received a proposal from the school education and literacy department to change the school timings due to scorching heat and soon all the schools in the state will function between 6am and 12 noon. I have given my approval to the proposal today (Wednesday),” said Jharkhand education minister Jagarnath Mahato at Ranchi on Wednesday evening.

Jharkhand has been reeling under heat wave conditions for the last few days with the maximum temperature shooting past the 40°C mark in most parts of the state, weather officials said.

Capital Ranchi recorded the season’s highest temperature at 40.2°C on Monday. It was 39.6°C on Tuesday, four notches above normal, the weather office said.

Daltonganj boiled on Tuesday, recording the state’s highest temperature at 44.8°C, which was 5.5 notches above normal. Jamshedpur simmered at 42°C, 2.6 notches higher than normal.

Bokaro, Chaibasa, Garhwa and Giridih also recorded temperatures between 40°C and 43°C.

“Relief from the sweltering weather conditions is unlikely in the next couple of days. Heat wave conditions are likely to continue in some pockets of northwest, central and southeastern parts of Jharkhand,” said Abhishek Anand, in-charge of the Ranchi Meteorological Centre.

Jharkhand Education Project Council (JEPC) project director Kiran Kumari Passi, in a notification on April 1, had asked the regional education joint director, district education officers and district superintendents of education to ensure that state-owned schools should function between 7am and 1pm from April 1 to June 30.

The directive evoked strong protest from the parents and the school staff.

Students head to a school in Ghatshila after quenching their thirst from an overhead water tank on Tuesday. Telegraph photo

“It is inhuman on the part of the education officials to have asked schools to be conducted between 7am and 1pm. It has never happened before. Prior to the pandemic, during summer the timing used to be between 6.30am and 11.30am. This is the first instance of education authorities asking the students to go home when the sun is at its peak during 1pm. We have submitted a letter to the authorities on Saturday requesting for reconsideration of the timing,” All Jharkhand Primary Teachers’ Association spokesperson Nasim Ahmed had told The Telegraph.

Founder president of Jharkhand Abhibhavak Sangh, Ajay Rai, had also criticised the government order.

“It seems the babus who sit in the AC chamber are not aware of the ground realities that the government school students have to endure.

“It would be torture for the students, most of whom walk to their schools to walk back home in the scorching summer heat of the afternoon. We demand that the government revise the timing at the earliest and do not wait till some students die of heat stroke,” Rai had told this newspaper.

Officials in the school education and literacy department said schools would issue a notification in a day or two about the revised timing.

“Schools had been closed for nearly two years and there is pressure to compensate for the loss of academics and we cannot take the liberty of reducing further school timing. Apart from the timings, third Saturday of every month will be a holiday in government schools. After the minister’s approval, a notification would be issued may be this evening or a day after,” said a deputy secretary-rank official in the department.