All the schools in the national Capital will remain closed during the Commonwealth Games to be held here from October 3 to 14, Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit said on Monday.

Announcing the decision after a Cabinet meeting, she said the holiday period during Dusshera has been rescheduled so that students could enjoy the mega sporting event.

"We have made adjustments in the holiday period around Dusshera (October 17) to keep the schools closed during the Commonwealth Games," Dikshit told reporters.

"To make up for the extended holiday period around Dusshera, we have decided to cut down on the summer vacation," she said.

Education Minister Arvinder Singh Lovely said the decision will also help in easing the heavy traffic during the Games period.

"Now the Autumn break will be for 17 days instead of the current nine days while we have decided to cut down on summer vacation by 12 days," Lovely said.

He said the winter vacation will be from December 25 to January nine, 2011.

Lovely said the number of total academic days in the current year will be 217 instead of last year's 215 days.