Parents rally for extended summer break amid heatwave

Srinagar, July 16: With no respite in the scorching heat across Kashmir, the demand for an extension in summer vacation is growing stronger as parents across various districts are demanding that school authorities give a few days’ extension to the vacation until the weather gets better and young students have some respite.

As the summer vacation for schools is ending on Wednesday, the parents said that they want a few more days of summer break for their children.

“There has been no respite in the scorching heat for weeks now, and if there is no major change in weather, the government should ensure that students get a few more days off. If the students suffer amid heat in classrooms, they won’t be able to study well, and in such circumstances, some respite should be given to them,” said Ashiq Ahmad, a parent.

Many netizens took to social media demanding that schools extend the summer vacation for a few more days.

Some even pointed out that authorities had kept the school opening date in the middle of the week and said that it would have been better to keep it from Monday, which would have given students respite from the heatwave conditions for some more days.

“I can't understand why the school opening date has been kept in the middle of the week. Why not have it from Monday, July 22. Nothing is planned here. The announcement of vacations is like rocket science for the department. This entire week we will see temperatures above normal. Why have vacations then just for formality when these are not serving the purpose,” posted Nasir Ali Khan, an RJ on Facebook.

The concerned parents also said that there was no respite in temperatures, and even the summer vacation for colleges was announced from July 15 to July 24.

“So, as per the government, the summers are too harsh for college-going students but okay for the younger students. There should be some logic behind the vacation, and these should serve some purpose. Amid the heat, students faint and have other health complications in schools, and authorities should consider that too,” said another parent.

Last week, Director School Education Kashmir Tasaduq Hussain Mir said that the decision to extend the summer vacation for schools would depend on the advisory issued by the Meteorological Department (MeT).

However, the concerned parents said that since there was no respite in the heatwave, the authorities should consider extending the summer vacation for school-going children.