West Bengal schools, colleges closes till April 22 due to severe heat wave: Mamata Banerjee

The maximum temperature in Kolkata touched the 41 degrees Celsius mark today. 

Agencies | Apr 16, 2023, Kolkata: Owing to the intense heat prevailing in the state, all schools and colleges in West Bengal have been ordered to shut down. 

As per PTI, announcing the closure, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said all schools, colleges in West Bengal will be closed from Monday to Saturday next week due to severe heatwave conditions. 

In the circular issued by the Department of Higher Educated it is stated that all autonomous/ state, central government aided/ private universities / affiliating colleges except hilly areas of Darjeeling and Kalimpong will remain closed with effect from 17th April for a week or until further order, whichever is earlier.

In another notification issued today by the school education department it is stated that all autonomous/ state/ central government aided, sponsored , private schools except for schools in the hill districts of Kalimpong and Darjeeling will remain closed with effect from 17th April 2023 for one week or until further order, whichever is earlier.. 

According to the India Meteorological Department, heat wave conditions will persist in West Bengal during this period. The maximum temperature in Kolkata touched the 41 degrees Celsius mark today. 

The maximum temperature in Kolkata touched the 41 degrees Celsius mark today. Baharampur, Durgapur and Kulti recorded the highest temperature in the state at 43 degrees. Above 40 degrees Celsius temperatures today were recorded on West Bengal towns including in Asansol, Baharampur, Barasat, Bardhaman, Kolkata, Bhatpara and Barrackpore, the Met office data said. 

The Odisha government has announced to close all government and private schools up to Class 10 and anganwadis in the state for five days starting from today, April 12 to April 16 in view of the heat wave. 

“In view of intense heat wave condition, Anganwadis centres and all schools (both govt and private) up to STD 10th will remain closed from 12th April to 16th April, 2023,” said the Information and Public Relations Department in a tweet. 

‘The state government has urged all schools, colleges and educational institutions and universities including private institutes to announce holiday for this week due to the heat wave, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Bannerjee said on Sunday, April 16, 2023. 

The move from the Bengal government comes amidst the rising heat wave across the state. Notably, in the past few days, several states across the country including Delhi, Bihar, and West Bengal have been recording temperatures close or over to 40 degree celsius. 

Notably, earlier on April 13, the West Bengal government also preponed the summer vacation in West Bengal government schools. Summer vacations in state-run schools across West Bengal will now begin from May 2, instead of May 24, as per the earlier schedule. 

The announcement closely followed the meteorological departments alert on expected rise in temperatures in the districts of Bankura, Purulia, Paschim Medinipur, Paschim Bardhaman and Birbhum. 

In the wake of rising temperatures in several parts of the country, various states have started gearing up to take measures to tap the soaring mercury level and safeguard people. Especially school-going children. In a similar move, earlier on April 14, the district administration of Bihar’s capital city Patna, asked school administrations in the city to revise school timings amid the scorching summer heat. 

On Thursday April 13, the Delhi Government after being alerted about intense heat waves in the national capital in the next few days, issued detailed guidelines for Delhi schools to follow. The advisory from the Directorate of Education (DoE) Delhi, asked schools to ensure that no assembly is organized in the afternoon.

It further added that children must be sensitized to protect themselves from the summer heat, ensure proper availability of drinking water and water breaks in schools, and report to a nearby hospital or health facility if any student has a case of heat-related illness.