Heatwave: After state schools shut, calls grow for CBSE to follow suit

Nagpur: Now that Maharashtra government has ordered closure of all state board-affiliated schools from Friday onwards due to the prevailing heatwave, parents of CBSE school students feel the national level board should follow suit.
Though the state government has issued closure orders, almost all of its schools are anyway closed for students as the exams are already over.

The ones which are still open are for remedial classes (for students who could not clear their final exams). A handful of schools also call students due to enter Std X (2023-24) for a curtain-raiser type crash course.
This practice is in fact the norm in CBSE schools where the new academic session for Std X and XII is underway.
A CBSE teacher said the closure norms should have been for all schools. “If the reason for school closure is heatwave, then are we to assume that extreme weather condition won’t affect CBSE students,” said the teacher.
TOI had reported on Friday that the government has left the decision about closure for non-state board schools with the respective managements.
Another teacher said, “It’s always good to have the state government taking decisions regarding school opening and closure. This way there is uniformity in academic days.”
An education official from Nagpur said by default, the state does not interfere with other boards. “It’s a no-go area when it comes to setting the academic calendar. Our involvement is only for ensuring that the three to four local holidays are followed by CBSE schools. But we cannot be telling them when to take their board exams or when to close their academic session. Their board exam dates are separate, hence we can never dictate terms on how they go about their work,” said the official.
“It’s not mandatory for them to close down their schools. But since we have input about excessive heatwave, non-state board schools can use that as a roadmap,” he said.