Schools charged for extended summer vacation

Statesman News Service

MALDA, June 2: The secretary of West Bengal Board of Secondary education has directed the district inspector of schools to prepare a list of schools who violated the government order for summer vacation. It may be recalled that just before rural polls the government had asked the school authorities to declare summer vacation from 9 May to 2 June. But many schools in the districts did not carry out the order properly. In Malda many schools declared holidays for 10 to 12 days just before the rural polls and opened their schools after the results were declared. After the government order many school teachers even the ones belonging to the CPI (M) backed ABTA, argued that an official job at the beginning of the new session would be hampered for this summer vacation. They also said, “the managing committee adopted a resolution to declare holidays for rural polls for 10 to 12 days and decided to declare vacations from mid June”. “School authorities can declare summer and winter vacation according to the need of the situation. But the school authorities can not enjoy holidays for more than 65 days in a year according to the government order”, said teachers of several schools. The district inspector of schools in Malda, Mr. Chinmay Sarkar said: “Following the order of the secretary of the board I will have to prepare a list of schools charged with violation of government order. I already have a list of faulty schools”. The D O said: “Many schools did not follow the order. If we find that some schools are enjoying vacations after 7 June 2008 we will inform the board about them and board will take action”. The school authorities are confused about a fresh order from the board where summer vacations have been extended from 2 June to 7 June. Following excessive heat wave many schools authorities in South Bengal and Kolkata have pressed the board to extend the vacations and the board finally had extended vacation for five more days. After talking to the secretary of the board over the phone, the Malda D I said, “The extended holidays will be treated as special leave”.