A fresh wave of COVID-19 pandemic has hit several states prompting their governments to announce early summer vacations for the school students. Some of them have declared full or partial curfew to reduce the spread of infections as part of which they have preponed the summer vacations for schools.
Usually, most of the schools declare their summer vacations from May and continue till early July. Though, as the virus cases have surged in the states, their education departments have already announced summer vacations. More than five states have already closed their schools for summer vacations.
Some have also announced direct promotion of Class 1-9 students and cancellation of Class 10 board exams. While, some have postponed their Class 12 board exams and are yet to announce the revised examination dates.
India yesterday recorded 3.49 Lakh fresh COVID-19 cases and 2,767 deaths.
Meanwhile the Kendriya Vidyalaya or KVS summer vacation had been announced from May. There has been no official postponement of the vacations for the KV students.
Delhi
The Delhi government has advanced the summer vacation in all schools in the national capital in view of the COVID-19 situation. The vacation which was scheduled from May 11 to June 3 has now been rescheduled from April 20 to June 9.Further all the online classes from KG to Class 9 students had also been suspended. Delhi has also extended its one-week lockdown to two weeks to curb the movement of people amid rising infections in the union territory.
Haryana
Haryana had announced summer vacation in all schools from April 22 to May 31. Earlier, the state government had ordered the closure of all colleges and universities till April 30. Earlier this month, the state government had decided to close schools till April 30 for students up to Class 8, but later they were shut for all classes in the wake of a sharp rise in coronavirus cases.Haryana Education Minister Kanwar Lal said that, “Along with the safety of the children, safety of the teachers is also our responsibility, so the summer vacations have been declared in advance”.
Rajasthan
Rajasthan schools have been shut from April 22 to June 6 as part of the one-and a half month long summer break. This comes after the state government had imposed a 15 day lockdown and announced closure of all educational institutions till May 3.The officials have asked the school teachers to remain in alert mode for COVID-19-related duties. Teachers have been directed to work from home and prepare exam results.
West Bengal
The West Bengal government announced summer vacations for all schools from April 20. The Education Minister Patha Chatterjee said that, “The summer break usually starts from the first week of May. But, due to the present COVID-19 situation, we are forced to pre-pone the summer vacation”. The government also asked the private schools to follow the announcement and declare summer holidays. The decision was taken amid reports of many teachers in schools testing positive in the past two months.
Andhra Pradesh
The state government had announced summer vacations for students of Classes 1 to 9 on April 20. The government has also promised a dry ration to such students to meet the nutritional requirements of children and safeguard their immunity during the COVID-19 outbreak.All the students were given direct promotion promoted to the next class. It also announced mid-day meals for Class 10 students.
Madhya Pradesh
Madhya Pradesh announced summer vacation for state school students studying in Classes 1 to 8 from April 15 to June 13. The vacation has been announced for the government and state-aided schools. State Education Minister Inder Singh said the decision has been taken in view of the rising COVID-19 cases.
