Hyderabad: Though the summer holidays have been extended to June 12 by an order of the Telangana government, private and corporate schools in the city are planning to reopen on June 1 and some are opening on June 6.
Vedavyas, a student of Class 9, tweeted to K.T. Rama Rao, working president of the Telangana Rashtra Samiti, complaining about this and asking for his intervention.
“Sir, I am a 9th Class student of little flower schools, Uppal. Sir, irrespective of government orders to reopen schools on June 12, our school is reopening on 1st and will function...” Vedavyas tweeted.
Mr Rama Rao replied, “I will request Hon’ble education minister and his team to issue clear instructions to all schools.” The extension of the summer holidays was on account of the soaring temperatures in the state, with the mercury rising to 47 degrees Celsius. “Even adults are afraid to step out. In these circumstances, we are not willing to send our children to school,” said Srinivas N, whose child studies in class 6.
According to the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), the heatwave will continue till the end of the first week of June.
As it is, many Class 9 students who are about to enter Class 10, are being called in for ‘special classes’ and ‘bridge courses’. This is so the 10th standard syllabus is completed in advance allowing students more time for revision later on.
Venkat Sainath K. of the Hyderabad Schools Parents Association said: “We are totally in confusion as the schools did not send any message that they will begin on June 12. Private schools don’t stick to government rules. They did not listen to the government about reducing the bag weight nor have they followed instructions not to give homework to children. So we are afraid that they will start schools in advance despite the government instructions.”
After the reply from Mr Rama Rao, many students of intermediate raised the issue of corporate intermediate colleges conducting these ‘bridge courses’ despite the heatwave alerts from the IMD.
Complaints to the intermediate board have fallen on deaf ears.
