After long break, schools will now have to work extra

MUMBAI: While students enjoyed a long break for Ganeshotsav, schools will now have to compensate for the loss of academic days by working on Saturdays and truncating

MUMBAI: While students enjoyed a long break for Ganeshotsav, schools will now have to compensate for the loss of academic days by working on Saturdays and truncating Diwali and Christmas vacations, said principals.

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A majority of the schools were closed from September 5 to September 15, with a few staying open on September 12 and September 14. September 13 was the official holiday for Bakrid. Schools had to give a longer Ganpati break this year under pressure from the Maharashtra Navnirman Vidyarthi Sena (MNVS), the student of wing of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena.

But schools are now falling short of the minimum working days — 220 for Classes 1 to 8, 230 for Classes 9 and 10 — required by the Right to Education Act, 2009 and other state rules.

Don Bosco School, Borivli, which is usually closed on Saturdays, will work on September 17. “The school had been shut for exactly 10 days starting from Janmashtami,” said Father William Falcao, manager of the school. St Mary’s (SSC), Mazgaon, has received a circular from the education department asking it to begin Diwali holidays from October 28, which is the first day of the festival, this year.

“Teachers are getting very little classroom time,” said Ganesh Parmeshwaran, Bal Bharti Public School, Navi Mumbai.