Several schools have suspended outdoor activities after 10am because of the heat spell and students are being asked to remain indoors even during breaks.
A senior education department official said the summer vacation in government-aided schools will start on May 2. A notification will be issued on Thursday. The summer vacation in these schools usually starts around May 24.
A copy of the notification will be sent to the boards that affiliate the private schools. It will be left to the boards to decide whether they would want to start the vacation from May 2, the official said.
Schools are sending out advisories to parents so children take necessary precautions and stay hydrated.
Teachers are telling children in morning assemblies and classrooms to keep drinking water through the day.
South Point, Sri Sri Academy, Mahadevi Birla World Academy, South City International School, Loreto Day School Eliot Road and Indus Valley World School are among those that have stopped outdoor activities after 10am.
Those who have indoor playing areas are making use of them instead of taking students out in the sun.
Several schools have asked teachers to be more alert with respect to children.
“A few of the children were not feeling well and one of them was throwing up. So we have asked teachers to be more alert,” said Suvina Shunglu, principal of Sri Sri Academy.
The school has issued a separate advisory for teachers. The guidelines include giving frequent water breaks to the children and allowing them to splash water on their face.
At Loreto Day School Elliot Road, the principal told the morning assembly for senior students to carry two water bottles.
“The second one could contain a bit of salt mixed in water,” said Jessica Gomes Surana, principal.
“Unnecessary outdoor activities with children should be reduced. Schools should reduce outdoor sports. Children should drink plenty of water, coconut water, use umbrellas and wear light-coloured clothes,” said Apurba Ghosh, director, Institute of Child Health.
Ghosh said heat tolerance was not uniform for every individual.
He stressed the need to take precautions but warned against going overboard.
South City International School has decided to conduct admission interviews after 2pm, instead of from 11am.
“By the time they (children and their parents) leave after the interviews, it gets very hot. So we have scheduled it for the second half,” said John Bagul, principal, South City International.
Kolkata police schedule tweak
The working hours of traffic cops deployed on roads have been tweaked.
Constables on traffic duty will be allowed to not wear their braces and anklets from Thursday.
Also from Thursday, there will be two shifts — 6am to 2pm and 2pm to 10pm. “If a cop is on the 6am-2pm shift one day, the next day he will be on the 2pm-10pm shift,” an officer said.
Till Wednesday, there were three shifts — 6am to 11am, 11am to 4pm and 4pm to 9pm.
“A cop on a five-hour shift was required to put in a few more hours of work the same day,” the officer said.
The new schedule allows a traffic cop more time to recover after signing off. “In the new schedule, a constable gets to take rest for close to 24 hours,” the officer said.
Police commissioner Vineet Kumar Goyal is scheduled to visit a few traffic guards on Thursday.
The officers in charge of all 25 traffic guards in Kolkata have been asked to collect ORS packets, umbrellas and water bottles for the personnel.