Hyderabad:
Many Hyderabad school-children will not have Christmas vacations this year, with their schools deciding to skip these and complete the academic syllabus just in case there is trouble over Telangana again.
The Srikrishna committee looking into the Telangana issue is scheduled to submit its report on the last day of the year - December 31. Many school administrations, apprehending trouble after the report is released, say they need to pack in as much as possible and so have decided to skip the Christmas break.
Last year, schools were closed for many days as trouble over the demand for a separate state of Telangana tore through the state.
Students are not amused. The Christmas break is much awaited after a gruelling examination session at this time. "We have to work harder and have extra classes. We lose out on holidays we deserve to have and generally have. And it becomes a real problem coping,'' Prakruti, a student of class X said.
Vivek, also a class X student said," Last year, the exams kept getting postponed and they had to keep repeatedly reading the same chapters for months and it was really painful and boring."
There is also a demand now to include schools under the Essential Services Maintenance Act (ESMA). This after the academic session was repeatedly disrupted by bandhs and agitations during the last round of Telangana trouble.
Both feel students and schools should be secure places, immune from politics and agitations but unfortunately, college students are in the middle of it and students from class I to X are getting affected, they say.
Gita Karan, chairperson, Geetanjali Schools said, "Why should schools get involved in such things? The rowdyism on the roads, burning buses etc. The RTC (Road Transport Corporation buses) get targeted first. We are scared about our school buses and the safety of our children.''
Pro-Telangana agitators would not want Hyderabad to be seen celebrating Sankranti in the second week of January as it is not seen as a Telangana festival, but the irony is that most schools are likely to give a break at that time to minimise risk to safety.