Kolkata:
Several private schools in West Bengal have announced a summer holiday since Friday, when Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee urged the educational institutions to pursue the holidays for a week in view of the India-Pakistan military struggle.
St. Xavier’s organization-poster, Julian Day School and Delhi Public School Ruby Park were among the schools that announced the summer holidays from Friday after CM Banerjee’s appeal.
“We were about to hold classes till May 13 … but, in view of the emerging situation and suggested by CM, we extend the dates for a few days,” we said, “We were going to hold the dates for a few days,” said Lipika Ghosh, Principal of Sodpure, St. Xavier’s institution, Sodpure.
A spokesman for the Julian Day School said, “We have carried forward the summer holiday dates from the initial plan from May 16 to May 9 following the CM’s instructions.” Delhi Public School Ruby Park has also announced holidays for a month from Friday.
Supriyo Dhar, secretary of La Martinier School for boys and girls, said: “After CM’s request, we have decided to switch to online classes from today to 16 May. We had earlier announced to start a holiday from 17 May, and it remains.” The Chief Minister on Wednesday appealed to private schools in the state to declare the summer holidays from 9 May in the light of tension between India and Pakistan.
However, several schools said that they had already pursued their academic calendar before the Pahalgam terror attack and the military conflict between India and Pakistan.
“Yes, we are closing after ‘Rabindra Jaynanti’ (Rabindranath Tagore’s birth anniversary, a state holiday) ceremony since yesterday (10 May).
Madhumita Sengupta, Principal of BD Memorial International School-Narendrapur, also said that it had already decided on 8 May as the last day of classes before the summer holidays.
He said, “Our academic calendar was set” before the incident around the Pahalgam incident, he said.
Mahadevi Birla World Academy and Calcutta Girls High School also said that dates were already fixed well for the summer holidays.
Along with the districts, many private schools announced the commencement of summer holidays from Friday.
A spokesman for a private school in Jalpaiguri said, “Following the events after Operation Sindor, we have decided to extend the day of the holiday from 16 May to 9 May.”
Summer holidays are already running in schools operating by the state from 30 April and in state-help schools, which are due to high heat.
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