In the midst of heat wave warning, states have taken decisions citing an expected rise in temperature
Many states governments have either shut down the schools or have revised the school timings owing to the significant rise in temperature across the nation. In many cities, the temperature has touched 40 degree Celsius mark and above. Due to this phenomenon, several schools have either been shut down or revised the school timings.
In Bihar, the school timings have been revised and the state has prohibited any academic activities to take place for all grades after 11:45 am. The weather department in West Bengal forcasted the prevailing of heat wave for the next four days. Hence, all the schools, universities, and colleges across the state are shut down by the government except in the two hill cities of Darjeeling and Kalimpong.
The centrally funded institute, Visva-Bharati in Birbhum has declared holiday for students studying in kindergarten to grade 8. For students in grade 9 to 12, the classes will be held from 6:30 am to 9:30 am while for all undergraduate and postgraduate students, the classes will be held from 7:00 am to 11:00 am.
According to the notice issued by the state government, the summer vacation is to be preponed in schools due to uncomfortably hot conditions. Summer vacation in aided and state-run schools is preponed by three weeks and will begin from 1st of May. The summer vacation was set to begin from May 24 or 25, but was changed owing to the order from the school education department in its notice. The department also stated that the schools should make suitable arrangements for extra classes when they reopen to make up for the loss in teaching hours due to early closure for summer vacation.
The state government in Jharkhand issued a revision in school timings from April 19th to 25th, owing to intense heat across the state. Students from kindergarten to grade 5 will attend classes from 7 am to 11 am, while other students will attend classes from morning to noon.
The intense heat across the state of Odisha has made its government to shut all schools and Anganwadis on April 19th and 20th. Morning classes from 7 am to 11 am were being held in the schools up to now. However, in view of severe summer heat, the summer vacation is preponed to April 21. All the schools, including the private and public schools, in the state will prepone the summer vacation from 21st of April. This decision applies to students for all grades.
In Tripura, all the government and private schools are to be shut down from April 18 to 23 due to immense heat wave conditions. The temperature in the state has been around 37 degree Celsius for the past three days. Rains are also unlikely to hit the ground until April 20.
The schools in Meghalaya are shut down for three days from Wednesday. The night schools, on the other hand, will remain functional. The decision followed after the mercury levels started touching 37 degree Celsius in the district. It also touched the 40 degree Celsius mark in the plains.
Schools in Uttar Pradesh are ordered to conduct classes for grades 1 to 8 from 7 am to 12 pm. Andhra Pradesh government announce half day schools for grades 1 to 9, earlier this month. The revised timings were from 7:45 pm to 12:30 pm. Governments of Telangana and Goa have also revised the school timings due to the immense heat wave conditions.