Bengaluru: A series of holidays for schools in September because of Cauvery protests has forced the Department of Public Instruction to cut the ongoing Dasara holidays and to direct schools to hold full classes on Saturdays in November to make up for the lost time.
The DPI has ordered schools in Bengaluru to resume classes from October 24 instead of October 30. After intense protests broke out with the Supreme Court ordering Karnataka to release water to Tamil Nadu, the state government was forced to announce holidays for schools and colleges across the state in the first and second weeks of September. “In Bengaluru, schools were closed for at least five days,” said a DPI officer.
As per the original calendar, the schools were supposed to reopen on October 30 after the Dasara holidays. But the revised schedule has directed schools to reopen on October 24. The schools have also been told to hold full-day classes on all four Saturdays in November.
The DPI circular states that in 11 districts, including Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, Chamarajnagar etc, two days were lost because of the Cauvery protests. In 22 districts, including Bengaluru North, South and Rural, three days were lost. DPI officials said that in Bengaluru, where the protests were violent the schools were closed for more than a week.
Sources said that majority of ICSE and CBSE schools restarted on October 12 itself, keeping in mind the lost days. “Every single class hour is important for us. This year, we started classes early as we could not hold classes for more than 15 days in September because of the Cauvery protest and confusion,” said a principal of a ICSE school.
