Winter break for primary classes extended till Jan 12

Delhi government has extended the closure of primary classes due to cold weather, with most schools set to reopen on January 15.

With Delhi shivering under the prevailing cold conditions, the Delhi government on Sunday announced that all primary classes — Nursery to Class 5 — will remain shut for another five days, till January 12.

People sleep on a pavement on a cold Sunday morning in Kapashera. (Parveen Kumar/ HT photo)

As January 13 and 14 are Saturday and Sunday, the order effectively means that most schools in the Capital will now reopen only on January 15.

Schools were earlier slated to resume on Monday after the winter break.

On Sunday, education minister Atishi said, “Primary schools of Delhi, up to class 5, will remain closed for another week. Schools will reopen from class 6 upwards but clear instructions have been given to schools to not function before 8 am and after 5pm.”

Separately, mayor Shelly Oberoi posted on X, “January 13 and 14 being the second Saturday and Sunday respectively, the school will be reopened on January 15 (Monday).”

Delhi on Sunday logged a maximum temperature of 18.8 degrees Celsius (°C) — an increase from the 15.2°C recorded the day before. The minimum, meanwhile, was 8.2°C — a drop from the 8.9°C on Saturday. The India Meteorological Department has predicted dense fog, light rainfall and a slight rise in temperature followed by a further drop over the next few days.

Satya Prakash, Delhi president of the All India Parents’ Association, said that parents of primary school students are satisfied with the decision, while others are not as the other children would also be affected due to the cold conditions.

He added, “We have received complaints from parents of students in the economically weaker section (EWS) category saying that they have not received winter uniforms, including sweaters and socks, which they were supposed to get in October. This puts an additional burden on parents.”

Sudha Acharya, principal of ITL Public School and chairperson of National Progressive Schools’ Conference, said that the order was welcome as many schools have already scheduled their pre-board practical exams from Monday.

Meanwhile, a government school principal, who did not want to be named, said, “It is mandatory to have 220 days of school per session, so it is important for students to come to school. There is no other option as we lost a few days during the pollution season.”

Earlier, the government announced an early winter break from November 9 to 18 amid severe air pollution. The remaining portion of the winter vacation was observed from January 1 to January 6.

Aprajita Gautam, president of the Delhi Parents’ Association, said that parents had started writing to the authorities and tweeting on Saturday as they were worried about sending their children to school in the biting cold. She added that even though school will begin at 8 am, it remains foggy even at that time of the day, and there are fears of bus accidents.