The second wave of COVID-19 has gravely affected India, forcing the central and state governments to impose strict restrictions and curbs in the country. Due to current circumstances, various central and state boards have cancelled the Class 10 board exams for the academic year 2020-21. Moreover, Class 12 board exams have been postponed to a later date after evaluating the pandemic situation. Education boards in several states have preponed their summer vacations as well to reduce the number of coronavirus infections.
Normally, summer vacations begin in the month of May and continue till the first or second week of June. However, the surge in COVID-19 infections in various states has forced their respective education departments to announce summer vacations early. A total of 7 states/UTs have rescheduled their summer vacations – Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, West Bengal, Arunachal Pradesh, and Rajasthan.
Delhi: The Delhi government announced the preponement of summer vacation in all public and private schools present in the national capital. Earlier, summer vacation was scheduled to begin from May 11, 2021, to June 30, 2021. However, the vacation has now been rescheduled from April 20, 2021, to June 09, 2021. Moreover, classes from KG to standard 9 were also suspended during the announcement of vacation in the national capital.
Madhya Pradesh: The state government recently announced the summer vacation for classes 1 to 8 from April 15, 2021, to June 13, 2021. This vacation shall be applicable to all government and state-aided schools.
Andhra Pradesh: As per the state government’s decision, summer vacation for classes 1 to 9 began on April 20, 2021. Moreover, dry ration shall provided to students during the vacation period to boost their immunity and safeguard their health against the virus. Class 10 students shall be provided with mid-day meals. The state government directly promoted all students to the next standard.
Haryana: Schools in the state shall be closed due to summer vacations from April 22, 2021, to May 31, 2021, announce the Haryana government. Earlier, schools for all classes were shut down till April 30, 2021. According to state Education Minister Kanwar Lal, the safety of teachers is as important as the health of students. Hence, summer vacations have been preponed.
West Bengal: Summer vacations in the state were announced from April 20, 2021, by the respective state government. Furthermore, the government requested private schools to abide by the decision and prepone their summer holidays. The announcement was made amid many teachers testing COVID-19 positive in the last two months.
Arunachal Pradesh: The respective state government announced the closure of all schools, including hostels, from April 26, 2021. Internal exams conducted before April 26, 2021 are to be used for the assessing students while those scheduled after the date stand cancelled. Summer vacations in the state shall continue till May 31, 2021. But, teachers have been asked to come to school to finish the evaluation work.
Rajasthan: Schools in the state shall remain closed from April 22, 2021, to June 06, 2021, due to preponed summer vacation. However, the state has requested teachers to keep a track of the COVID-19 responsibilities allotted to them. They have been instructed to work from home and complete their evaluation work.
