According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD) forecast, this April begins in El Nino state due to which either a small pocket or large geographical area in India experienced heatwave conditions. Due to this, schools are either being declared closed, early summer vacation or the school timing is being modified. Here is the list of states where schools have been closed. Jharkhand The Department of School Education and Literacy, Jharkhand in a notice informed students and parents that all schools are closed in the state till class 8, while class timings have been changed to 7 am to 11.30 am for classes 9 to 12 until further notice. Additionally, outdoor activities such as prayers, and sports are suspended in the same regard. For teachers and the non-teaching of government, non-government aided, unaided (including minority) school staff the notice and holiday is not applicable. “Due to extreme heat and heat wave in Jharkhand state, keeping in mind the possibility of adverse health effects on students, classes from KG up to Class 8 in all categories of government, non-government aided/unaided (including minority) and all private schools are postponed till further orders,” the department said in an official notice. Bihar The Patna district administration has prohibited the academic activities for Class 10 from 10.30 to 4 pm, including pre-schools and Anganwadi centres. While for Class 11 and 12, academic activity is prohibited from 11.30 to 4 pm due to the intense heatwave. The district magistrate asked all schools to follow the order starting from May 1 to May 8. West Bengal The West Bengal Education Minister Bratya Basu advanced the summer vacations from April 22 for all government and government-aided schools due to prevailing heat wave across the region except Darjeeling and Kalimpong district. Earlier, the summer vacation for government school was scheduled to start from May 6. The Education minister also requested the private school to advance the summer vacation. Maharashtra Earlier in April, Maharashtra government declared an early vacation due to intense heat waves, for all primary, middle and higher schools. They will reopen on June 15 and on June 30 for Vidarbha region. Chhattisgarh The Department of School Education under the Chhattisgarh government has announced an early summer vacation for all government, aided, and non-aided schools in the state. The vacation commenced on April 22 and extended until June 15 to safeguard students' health during the ongoing heatwave. Previously, summer vacation was scheduled to begin on May 1. The circular issued on April 24 clarifies that this early closure does not apply to teachers. Delhi To counter the rising heatwave, the Delhi government has issued a circular for school authorities and parents. The summer vacation is scheduled for all government-aided schools from May 1 till June 15. This circular outlines several preventive measures, including prohibiting outdoor assemblies during afternoons, cancelling all outdoor activities when a heatwave is declared, and disallowing open-air classes. Schools are mandated to provide students with clean drinking water and schedule regular water breaks. Additionally, first-aid kits must be stocked with Oral Rehydration Solution (ORS), and parents are advised to ensure their children wear head coverings when exposed to sunlight. Earlier from April 24 to April 27 Tripura Education department closed the school, which were further extended till May 1. The notification had also advised people against going out in the Sun and to stay hydrated. The Meghalaya deputy commissioner of West Garo Hills suspended classes for nursery and pre-primary schools on April 29 and 30, timings were modified for primary, secondary, and higher secondary students. These modified timings ran from 6:30 am to 10:30 am until May 1. These changes, however, did not apply to night shift schools, which remained functional as usual.
