In view of rising temperatures and heatwaves, multiple states across the country have announced early summer vacations for schools and some have changed the school timings to ensure the well-being of students. Here, we have curated a list of states where schools have been closed.
Kerala:
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan ordered educational institutions including professional colleges, to close till May 6 due to heatwave conditions. The decision to close schools was taken after the forecast department's prediction. As per the IMD, maximum temperatures are very likely to be around 40 degrees Celsius in Palakkad, around 39 degrees Celsius in Kollam, Thrissur, and Kozhikode, about 38 degrees Celsius in Alappuzha, Kottayam, Pathanamthitta, and Kannur, and around 37 degrees Celsius in the remaining districts of Thiruvananthapuram, Ernakulam, Malappuram, and Kasaragod from May 2 to 6.
Jharkhand:
The Department of School Education and Literacy, Jharkhand has announced early summer vacations for classes up to 8. While the class timings have been altered to 7 am to 11.30 am for classes 9 to 12 til further notice. Additionally, outdoor activities such as prayer, and sports are suspended due to temperature conditions. As per the official notice, there will be no holiday for teachers, non-teaching government teachers, non-government aided, unaided including minority school staff.
The official notice reads, 'Due to extreme heat and heat wave in Jharkhand state, keeping in mind the possibility of adverse health effects on students, classes from KG up to Class 8 in all categories of government, non-government aided/unaided (including minority) and all private schools are postponed till further orders'.
Bihar:
Patna District Administration has also suspended the academic activities for class 10th from 10.30 am to 4 pm including pre-schools and Anganwadi centres. While for Class 11 and 12, academic activity is prohibited from 11.30 to 4 pm due to the extreme heatwave. The district magistrate has asked all schools to follow the order with effect from May 1 to 8.
West Bengal:
The West Bengal Education Minister Bratya Basu has announced the early summer vacations in all government and government-aided schools due to prevailing heat waves across the region except Darjeeling and Kalimpong districts from April 22. Earlier, the summer vacation was scheduled to start from May 6. The education minister also requested private schools for early summer vacation.
Srinagar:
The state education authorities of Kashmir have also changed the school timings in the capital Srinagar from May 6 due to an improvement in temperature conditions and an increase in day length. As per the order, the school timings have been altered half an hour earlier than the prevalent timings. According to the order, Now, all government and privately recognized schools within the municipal limits of Srinagar city will be operational from 08:30 AM to 02:30 PM with an immediate effect from May 6.
Maharashtra:
Earlier in April, the Maharashtra government announced an early vacation in all primary, middle and higher schools due to extreme heatwave conditions.
Chhattisgarh:
Chattisgarh education department has also announced an early summer vacation for all government, aided, and non-aided schools in the state. The summer vacation began on April 22 and was extended till June 15 for the well-being of students. Earlier, summer vacation was scheduled to start on May 1. As per the order, this early closure does not apply to teachers.
Delhi:
Due to the heatwave, the Delhi government has decided to close all government-aided schools from May 1 to June 15. The government has also instructed educational institutions to take necessary preventive measures, including prohibiting outdoor assemblies during afternoons, canceling all outdoor activities when a heatwave is declared, and disallowing open-air classes.
Meghalaya:
Meghalaya deputy commissioner of West Garo Hills prohibited academic activities for nursery and pre-primary schools on April 29 and 30 and changed the school timings for primary, secondary, and higher secondary. These altered timings ran from 6.30 am to 10.30 am till May 1. These changes did not apply to night-shift schools.
