Teachers and guardians are unhappy with the prolonged summer vacation for schools that was declared by the West Bengal government citing heatwave conditions, saying the students were losing precious time due to this extended absence from the classroom.
“The normal practice is to have a two-week holiday from the fourth week of May to about the end of the first week of June. This year schools closed on May 2 and will reopen only on June 26 — that’s some eight weeks. It is an unnecessary loss of school days. Students of Classes 10 and 12 will suffer the most since they will have only three months of classes before we shut down again for Durga Puja and their pre-boards are usually scheduled for November,” said the principal of a Kolkata-based girls’ school, who did not wish to be named.
It was on June 13 that the State government issued a notification extending the vacation: “…as reports of a few death cases due to heat and humidity have been received, the competent authority has decided to extend the summer vacation till June 26 or until further instructions, whichever is earlier.”
