Amid the rising temperature and unrelenting heatwave in many parts of the country, several states have changed the school timings. In some states the school timings have been shifted to early morning hours starting 7am in the morning, while some states have postponed the classes and some have even announced early summer holidays.
Centre has issued advisory for the states and have advised people to avoid getting out in the sun, especially between 12 noon and 3 pm. Heatwave conditions, however, are expected to abate from Tuesday, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted.
Here we bring before you the list of states which have made changes in school timings due to the onging heatwave or have announced early summer vacations.
Haryana
Haryana’s education minister Kanwar Pal, on Monday, took to Twitter to convey that the timings of all private and government schools in the northern state will be changed to 7 am to 12 pm from the earlier timings of 8 am to 2.30 pm from May 4 onwards.
Punjab
The Punjab government has declared summer vacation in all schools from May 14 in view of the severe heatwave in the state. For the past several days, maximum temperatures have been hovering a few notches above the normal limits in Punjab and some of its neighbouring states, including Haryana.
Odisha
The Odisha government recently announced school closure, following this now the government has also announced the closure of colleges and universities till May 2. However, other activities such as examination, evaluation, administrative and research work shall continue as usual, claimed the officials.
Meanwhile, the Board of Secondary Education (BSE) Odisha has rescheduled the Class 10 or Madhyama exams 2022. The exams which were to begin on April 28 have been postponed to May 9.
West Bengal
The West Bengal government has announced that schools across the state will begin summer vacations from May 2 onward. The announcement was made by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. The vacation will continue till June 15. The schools in the hill districts of Darjeeling and Kalimpong are exempt from the order.
Meanwhile, the universities in the state have been asked to decide whether they want to shift to online classes, bring forward the vacation or make suitable arrangements for the heat.
Rajasthan
Many districts in Rajasthan like Jaipur, Ajmer, Sikar, Churu and Jodhpur have revised school timings due to the heatwave situation in the state, with the temperature going up to 45 degrees Celsius. In the Jaipur district, the school timings for Classes 1 to 8 have been scheduled from 7:30 am to 11 am.
The revised timings have to be followed by both government and private schools. But the school timings for Classes 9 to 12 have not been changed. The district administration also stated that the order will not apply to Class 8 which will have board exams as per schedule.
Maharashtra
Earlier this month, the Maharashtra government issued a circular in which it announced summer vacations for students of classes 1-9 and Class 11 between May 2 and June 12. It said that the new academic session will start on June 13 in all regions barring Vidarbha, where it will begin on June 27 due to heatwave.
Uttar Pradesh
Summer vacations in the northern state will start from May 21 and remain in place till June 30 this year, providing students a 51-day holiday.
Karnataka
Schools in the southern state are currently observing summer vacations with the government having announced the dates in February. The break that started on April 10 will continue till May 15, and the next academic session will begin on May 16.
Andhra Pradesh
The summer vacations in the southern state will start from May 6 and remain in place till July 4.
Chhattisgarh
The summer break in the central state is currently being observed with the education department stating that the same will continue till June 14. The vacation commenced from April 24.
(With Agency Inputs)
