Kendriya Vidyalaya vacations from mid-April

In a relief to students, KVS decides to change schedule for schools in State

March 03, 2015 12:00 am | Updated 05:45 am IST - Palakkad:

In a major relief to hundreds of students across the State, the Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan (KVS) has decided to change the summer vacation schedule for its schools in Kerala from April this year.

As per the revised plan, the Kendriya Vidyalayas (KVs) in the State will close for 50 days of summer vacation on April 16. They will reopen on June 5 to coincide with the onset of the southwest monsoon.

Till now, KVs in the State closed for the summer vacation only in the first week of May. So the students and teachers had to be in school during peak summer days when mercury crossed 40 degrees Celsius in areas such as Palakkad. The Hindu had recently carried an article on the plight of children who had to attend classes in KVs during the hot summer months.

In her order, KVS Joint Commissioner (Academics) V. Vijayalakshmi said the Central agency had taken the decision to change the vacation schedule keeping in view a directive from the Kerala State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) and petitions received through the regional office of the KVS in Ernakulam.

The KV authorities had conducted a referendum among parents in the State to reschedule the summer holidays. It was the Palakkad unit of the Kendriya Vidyalaya Parents Association (KVPA) which had approached the Deputy Commissioner of the Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan in Kochi seeking to implement a change in the summer vacation schedule. It had also won a favourable order from the SHRC a few months ago.

“In north India, peak summer is towards the end of May and in June and hence holidays at this time help the children there. But in Kerala, the weather pattern is entirely different. Here, peak summer is during the two months of April and May, and the southwest monsoon begins in June. All other schools in the State remain closed in April and May,” E. Jayachandran, district coordinator of the KVPA, who approached the human rights commission, said.

“Every summer, the temperature goes up to 45 degrees Celsius in Palakkad. The State government issues circulars restricting outdoor activities between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. during the summer months here. Plenty of sunburn cases are also reported,” Mr. Jayachandran said.

“As parents, we find it difficult to keep the children fit when they go to school during this period. They face problems such as dehydration, giddiness, urinary infection, and other summer-related diseases. Now, the change in schedule is a welcome relief,” V. Narayanan, a parent, said.

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