Many private schools to shorten Christmas vacation to make up for classes lost to rain in Bengaluru

In the wake of heavy rains across Karnataka, including Bengaluru city, which caused large-scale damages, the Bengaluru district administration declared holidays for anganwadis and all schools on October 16, 21 and 23

Many private schools in Bengaluru Urban district have decided to shorten the three-day Christmas vacation in December to make up for the loss of classes owing to the closure of schools due to the recent heavy rains.

While most government and private unaided schools of the State board plan to hold full-day classes on Saturday October 26, some schools plan to make up for lost time in November.

Recently, in the wake of heavy rains across Karnataka, including Bengaluru city, which caused large-scale damage, as a precautionary measure, the Bengaluru district administration declared holidays for anganwadis and all schools on October 16, 21 and 23.

It also ordered full-day classes to be held on Saturdays or Sundays to make up for the lack of learning time due to these holidays.

Many prestigious schools in Bengaluru decided to cut down the Christmas vacation to three days and hold classes.

“The government has allowed classes to be conducted on Saturdays and Sundays to make up for the lack of learning. However, most parents do not like to send their children to school on Sundays. So, we have decided to cut the Christmas vacation in December and hold classes at that time,” said the principal of a private school, Bengaluru.

All government schools in the city have taken steps to conduct full-day classes on Saturdays and Sundays.

“We will conduct full day classes on October 26, as per the instructions of the government. On October 27, the Karnataka Examinations Authority conducted an exam for filling up the posts of ‘Village Administration Officer’ and has used our school as the examination centre. Therefore, the remaining classes will be conducted next week,” said the vice-principal of Karnataka Public School (KPS) of Basavanagudi.

Many private schools of the State board have a meeting of parents on October 26, and have decided to conduct additional classes based on the views of parents.

“We are ready to conduct classes on Saturdays full day and also on Sundays. Even our teachers have agreed. However, we do not know whether parents will send their children. Even children do not like to come to school on holidays. If children do not come to school, they will miss classes again. So, we will schedule three days of classes after taking the consent of the parents,” said the principal of a private School.

“It is difficult to engage children in educational activities at home during holidays. There’s a meeting with the schools to take a call on compensatory classes. We are bound by the decision taken by the school management,” said Pratibha, a parent in Vijayanagar.

Many Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and Indian Certificate Secondary Education (ICSE) schools had switched to online classes on the holidays announced by the district administration.

“We conducted online classes successfully for all students on days when the government declared a holiday due to rain. Children’s learning is not affected. So, we will not conduct extra classes,” said the principal of a CBSE school.

Published - October 25, 2024 03:54 pm IST