Heatwave in Bengal: Mamata Banerjee declares holiday for academic institutions from today

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has announced that all schools, colleges, and universities in the state, including private institutions, will remain shut for one week starting from Monday, April 17, due to prevailing heat-wave conditions. The state's education department has issued two orders, one for schools and another for colleges and universities.

The orders mandate that all academic institutions, including autonomous, state-aided, central government-aided, sponsored, private schools, and private universities, remain closed until further notice, but for no longer than a week. Schools and colleges in the hill districts of Darjeeling and Kalimpong are exempt from the closure.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee stated that children could not bear the heat, and the decision to close schools and universities is in the interest of their well-being. She urged private schools to comply with the government's decision, saying, "private schools don't always act in compliance with the government's decisions, but the students of private schools are children too." Several private schools have already informed parents that they will remain closed for the week.

The education department has also announced that the department's previous order, issued on April 13, which asked the state's primary and secondary education boards to start summer vacations in government and government-aided schools on May 2 due to heat waves, is now invalidated.

The new order mandates that the teaching and non-teaching staff of the schools shall make suitable arrangements for taking extra classes after reopening the schools to make up for the loss due to the closure of schools.

The decision has been well-received, with Bishop Reverend Paritosh Canning of the Calcutta diocese of the Church of North India requesting the 15 schools under the aegis of the diocese to comply with the government order.

Schools like La Martiniere for Girls and La Martiniere for Boys, which were scheduled to begin their new academic session on Tuesday, have opted for online classes for the week. South Point has issued a notice saying that classes will remain suspended from Monday to Saturday, and all improvement tests scheduled during the week will be conducted as per schedule announced earlier, in an air-conditioned environment.