Gujarat: Private schools oppose Navratri vacation

Ahmedabad/Rajkot/Surat: Unaided privates schools in various parts of the state on Monday opposed the decision of the BJP government to give a week-long vacation to schools and colleges during the Navratri festival. They argued that since the academic calendar is prepared in May, the week-long vacation after the sessions has already begun will disturb academic activities.
Officer bearers of various associations of unaided schools will meet chief minister Vijay Rupani on Wednesday, to urge him to roll back the decision.

“Students will be getting holidays for Janmashtmi, Navratri and Diwali in rapid succession, which threatens to disrupt academic activities. We will meet the CM and the education minister and request that the vacation be withdrawn. If the government does not accept our proposal, we will go against the decision and keep schools open,” said Naran Patel, president of the All Gujarat School Managements Association.

President of the Rajkot Self-Financed School Association, Ajay Patel, said, “ Before Navratri, there will be a four-day holiday for Janmashtami in Saurashtra, which will be stretched to a week. Another week-long vacation soon after Janmashtami will eat into academic days.”

“If the government is concerned about students, we are ready to delay school and college timings by an hour in the morning during Navratri. There are two Sundays during Navratri, students can dance garba till late in the night on those days and on the last day, which is followed by Dussehra, which is a public holiday. Education should not be compromised because of the Navratri festival.”

In Ahmedabad, most of the CBSE schools expressed their inability to implement the Navratri vacation. “We will not be able to give the Navratri vacation as our academic calender was prepared in February,” said Manan Choksi, trustee of Udgam School.

Mrugen Shah, principal of Prakash Higher Secondary School said: “The school will remain open during Navratri as Diwali vacation is a family vacation and we do not intend to curtail it because many families have already made their plans. We will declare a vacation if the CBSE approves it.”

M P Chandran, executive director of Asia School and JG International School, however, said they will give students the vacation. “Earlier, we had a five-day Navratri vacation, which will be extended according to the government order,” Chandran said. “CBSE schools have a mandate to complete 220 working days or 1,200 hours of teaching. This being examination month at almost all schools with a pre-planned calendar, it would be appropriate to wait for the official notification only,” said Surender Sachdeva, principal of DPS school. According to Pragya Pandya, principal of St Kabir School, a decision will be taken after receiving the formal notification. “If needed, we will replan the calendar,” she said. Swanirbhar Shala Sanchalak Mandal, an association of unaided schools in Surat, has decided to continue teaching during the Navratri festival and register their objection to the government’s decision. The association plans to send a memorandum to the state education minister by email on Tuesday.

“The government has already extended the summer vacation by seven days due to the water crisis and now nine days during Navratri will eat into 16 days of the academic calendar. This will affect students’ studies. If the days are compensated for in Diwali, it will affect the entire family as many have already planned their vacations,” said Mahesh Patel, president of the association. In Vadodara, unaided schools are yet to take decision on the issue.

Minister rules out rollback:

“The decision was taken after wide consultations with academic institutions. During Navratri, the attendance of students goes down and academic work suffers. We have taken this decision in the interest of students. This will not cut a single day from the academic calendar. The holidays will be compensated for by a reduction in the Diwali vacation,” said Dave.