Bengal govt extends summer vacation in schools till June 26

Kolkata: Amid extremely hot and humid conditions, the School Education Department has extended summer vacation in schools till June 26. A notification has been issued by the Principal Secretary of the School Education Department on Monday in this regard.

The notification also added that the extension of summer vacation will not be applied for schools in hilly areas of Darjeeling and Kalimpong districts. It will only be applicable for state-run and state-aided schools across Bengal.

According to the notification, the decision to extend summer vacation has been taken keeping in mind the 'safety and security' of the students. "With regard to declaring summer vacation in the schools due to extreme heat wave conditions, as reports of a few death cases due to heat and humidity have been received, the competent authority has decided to extend the summer vacation," reads the notification.

The summer vacation in schools had already been extended from mid-April, owing to the hot and humid conditions. As per the earlier notification, summer vacation in schools was announced from May 2 to June 15. After the extension, the schools will now reopen on June 27. South Bengal districts have been witnessing hot and humid conditions for the past several days. The MeT office has, however, predicted that the city and South Bengal districts may receive monsoon rainfall after June 16.

The West Bengal Council of Higher Secondary Education later in the day published a notification saying that practical examination of Class XI may be completed latest by July 11 and results may be published by June 29.