West Bengal's decision to extend summer vacation for schools is being opposed. This is why

The decision to extend summer vacation which was announced by the West Bengal Education Department yesterday has not gone down well with everyone. The Advanced Society for Headmasters and Headmistresses (ASHH) are of the opinion that this will do more harm than good.

It was just yesterday, Monday, June 13, that the Education Department had extended summer vacations in state-run schools by 11 days due to the extreme heatwave conditions, as stated in a report by PTI.

"We request you to let the school authorities determine the indispensability of the extension of the ongoing preponed summer vacation in the interest of students and other stakeholders," ASHH General Secretary Chandan Kumar Maity said in a statement.

Maity shared that it is after a long gap that the educational institutions have reopened and a further prolonged vacation will not help when it comes to bridging the unsurmountable learning gaps.

ASSH, which represents the headmasters and headmistresses of state-run and state-aided schools, also flagged the declaration of the schedule for next year's Class X and XII Board exams, stating that it would be very difficult to complete the entire curriculum.

As far as the order of extended vacation for private schools go, the department had requested them to follow the same but there has been a mixed response.

La Martiniere Schools' secretary Supriya Kar said both the boys' and girls' sections will switch to online classes till June 26.

South Point School's trustee board member Krishna Damani informed that while classes of the junior section will be held online from June 14 to June 24, offline classes will be held from June 27.

Classes in the senior section were already scheduled to start on June 27.