School holidays in West Bengal : Due to the early school closure announced by Education Minister Bratya Basu, a number of private schools have also moved up their summer holiday by around one week.
The region’s intense heatwaves and sweltering temperatures prompted West Bengal Education Minister Bratya Basu to declare an early start to the summer break for government and government-aided schools on Wednesday.
The government and assisted schools’ vacation, which was originally set to commence on May 6, will now start on Monday, April 22. A few private schools have also advanced their summer break by around one week.
In Kolkata, daily high humidity levels can reach 87% and temperatures hover around 40 degrees Celsius.
For heatwave conditions in East Midnapore, West Midnapore, Purulia, Jhargram, Bankura, West Burdwan, East Burdwan, and Birbhum from Saturday to Monday, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued an orange advisory. The areas of Nadia and Murshidabad are under a yellow warning due to heatwave conditions. The temperature is predicted to rise above 40 degrees Celsius in the next days, according to Met authorities.
Bankura and Midnapore reached 41.4 degrees Celsius on Wednesday, while Panagarh got a sweltering 43 degrees Celsius. Asansol recorded 41 degrees Celsius, Krishnagar recorded 39 degrees Celsius, while Purulia, Barakpore, and Sriniketan witnessed 40.5 degrees Celsius.
In response to the warmth, West Bengal schools will take an early summer break.
While it has been pouring nonstop in Northern Bengal, a heatwave warning is in effect in Southern Bengal. Strong winds of 30 to 40 kmph and lightning are currently occurring in Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri, Kalimpong, Alipurduar, and Cooch Behar. However, there is dry weather in Malda, South Dinajpur, and North Dinajpur.
The Bengal government has scheduled the state-run schools’ break on April 22 due to the weather.
Due to the current heatwave, the West Bengal government decided on Thursday to postpone the summer break for state-run and assisted schools starting on April 22. In light of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, the School Education Department announced on Thursday that, aside from students, all teaching and non-teaching personnel at the schools would be on leave during this time. However, they would be subject to the directives of the relevant electoral authorities.
The notice sent by the School Education Secretary to the presidents of primary and secondary boards stated, “Given the current heatwave situation, the competent authority has decided to prepone the summer vacation in the schools under your administrative jurisdiction with effect from April 22 except for schools in hill areas of Darjeeling and Kalimpong districts, wherein the existing academic schedule may continue until further order.”
Bimal Mardi is a Professional Content Writer. He works in First Santal Broadcast Network TV/ News channel in India. Bimal Mardi writes about Technology, Education and Tech Product Reviews
