All schools to be shut from May 11

Providing relief to lakhs of schoolchildren from extreme heat conditions in the national capital, the Delhi government on Tuesday ordered all schools in the city to advance their summer vacation to May 11. This year, the sumer vacations were supposed to start from May 13.

The education department issued the order to this effect to all private and government-run schools, including those under the management of municipal bodies. They have been told to observe “mandatory summer vacations.”

“The directorate of education (DoE) has issued a circular to all the heads of government, aided, private, NDMC, MCD and DCB schools, directing them to observe mandatory summer vacations from May 11,” an official statement said. It said the decision has been taken in view of the searing heat and predictions of temperature rising further.

The national capital on Monday witnessed the hottest day of the season with mercury soaring to 44 Celsius, five notches above the season’s average. The maximum temperature settled at 39.6 Celsius on Tuesday. While the summer vacations in the government-run schools begin from May 10 every year, private schools have varied schedules. The duration of the summer vacation is around one-and-a-half months in most schools. There are over 3,500 private schools, 1,150 government-run schools and over 2,500 schools run by various civic bodies in the city.

“I am really happy and relaxed to know that we are being provided with mandatory summer vacations from May 11. This was actually very much needed. The way this heat is increasing it is getting difficult for all of us to even go to school. Even if we reach school once, we cannot think of stepping out of school specially if there is a period of physical activity,” Niti Sharma, a government school student, said.

“This news has come as a treat for not only us, but for our parents too. Since they drop and pick us, for some days they would be relaxed and won’t have to travel in this heat. The heat is just becoming unbearable day by day. I do not even feel like getting up in the morning thinking about going out and then staying out in such hot weather,” said Gaurav Khurana, a Green Fields School student.