Summer Holiday Extended? Odisha Govt Scotches Rumours

Bhubaneswar: Parents have been on the edge in the past few days about when to send their children to school after the summer vacations — whether the schools reopen on June 17 or June 18.

But putting all speculation to rest, Odisha government sources confirmed to Odisha Bytes on Sunday that schools will open as per the scheduled date and there has been no notification about extension of holidays.

“I was a bit sceptical after my neighbour told me about extension of summer holidays. I visited the school on Sunday morning and was told that they were sticking to schedule,” said Pradeep Mani, whose daughter studies in Class IV of DAV Public School, Chandrasekharpur.

Rumours had spread over the weekend that school holidays were being extended by a week in view of the ongoing heat wave condition in some parts of the state. Last year, the state government had extended the summer vacation from June 18 to June 25 because of high temperatures.

“Many parents had begun to assume a similar government move this time as well. But we have had no information so far about holiday extension. If we get any information, we will send SMS alerts to the registered cellphones of parents,” said a teacher at Venkateshwar English Medium School in Patia.

According to a notice on their website, Loyola School and Ruchika High School in the city will reopen on June 17. Summer holidays started early, on April 18 this year, as temperatures in several parts of Odisha, including Bhubaneswar, shot up to 40 degrees and above.