School Holidays: Due to the increasing temperatures, some states have rescheduled their summer break

Many Indian states have declared early summer holidays for all government and private schools due to an escalating heatwave. A heatwave warning has been issued by the India Meteorological Department for a number of states in the nation, including Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and others.

Temperatures in these states often rise beyond 40 degrees Celsius, which presents serious health hazards, particularly for small children. Summer vacations have been postponed as a consequence. The information for each state is as follows:

Punjab

All government, private, assisted, and recognized schools in Punjab will have summer vacations from May 21 to June 30. The state’s heatwave, which is impacting many districts, prompted the School Education Department to make this decision. The agency moved the start and end times of the schools to 7 AM and 12 PM earlier on Saturday. However, they have now chosen early summer vacations because of the growing temperatures. The hottest temperature ever recorded in Bath on Sunday was 46.4°C, which prompted the immediate action to protect the pupils’ safety and wellbeing.

Delhi
Due to the increasing temperatures, the Delhi government has ordered the immediate closure of all schools. The directive states that Delhi schools would be closed till June 30.

“All the Heads of Schools of DoE were directed to observe Summer Vacation from 11.05.2024 (Sunday) to 30.06.2024 (Sunday) for the Academic Year 2024–25,” said the official announcement. Nonetheless, it has been noted that during continuous extreme heat waves, a small number of officially recognized private schools, both aided and unassisted, remain open. It is recommended that all of these schools immediately shut for the summer.

The academic calendar states that Delhi’s summer break runs from May 11 to June 30, giving students a total of 50 days off.

The state of Uttar Pradesh
Due to the extreme heat, the Gautam Buddh Nagar district government declared summer holidays for classes 9 through 12 in Noida and Greater Noida. In the past, holidays were announced for classes up to eight. On May 20, Basic Shiksha Adhikari, Rahul Panwar, issued an order closing schools up to Class 8, with instructions for schools to follow. Some parents did, however, claim that their children were summoned into additional lessons by the schools.

The summer break for Aligarh’s council schools will run from May 20 until June 15. Before the holidays start, instructors are to give their kids homework, according to department officials’ instructions. In addition, the district administration of Ghaziabad said that, because of the high temperatures that are now occurring, all schools that provide pre-nursery through eighth grade programs would be closed from May 20 to May 25.

State of Haryana
From June 1 to June 30, all public and private schools will enjoy summer vacation, according to a statement from the Directorate of School Education. Reopening day for schools is July 1. Officials, including District Education Officers, have been directed to make sure that compliance is maintained.

Rajasthan
All public and private schools were to have summer vacation from May 17 to June 30, according to the Education Department. It has been advised that schools not offer any additional lessons during this time.

State of Madhya Pradesh
The State Education Board declared that all public and private schools would have summer break starting on May 1 and lasting until June 15.