Keeping in view a heatwave prevailing in the state, the Odisha government has issued a notice that all the higher education classes shall be temporarily suspended. The notice brought out on April 26 shall come into effect from the next day. The suspension shall continue till May 2.

According to the notice, classroom teaching of both undergraduate and postgraduate courses in all higher education institutions under the jurisdiction of the Higher Education Department (DHE), Odisha shall remain suspended. The DHE Odisha Secretary Saswat Mishra has issued this direction through a letter.

However, the notice also states that only classroom teaching will be suspended. Other activities such as examinations, evaluations, administrative work, research work and so on will be carried out as usual. The teaching and non-teaching staff have been told to remain present in their respective institutions to discharge their regular duties and also to be present for evaluation and other activities during the holiday period.

The summer holidays had been curtailed to only ten days for schools in the state, to make up for the academic loss incurred due to the pandemic. The vacations were to be from June 6 to 16. However, on April 22, the School and Mass Education Minister of Odisha, Samir Ranjan Dash, had said that the vacations may be advanced to May because of the heatwave. But no final decision has been taken on the matter yet.

For colleges and public universities, the vacations would start from June 1 till June 16. The state government has already closed down all schools and Anganwadi centres for five days from Tuesday due to the rise in mercury levels. The Bhubaneswar Meteorological Centre has recorded on April 25 that at least 27 places in Odisha have experienced a maximum temperature of 40 degrees Celsius or above.