School Timings Change: Due to the severe heat prevailing in Lucknow, the Department of Basic Education has revised school timings to provide relief to children. Classes in schools under the Basic Education Council will now be held from 7:30 AM to 12:30 PM.
Add informalnewz.com as a Preferred Source
School Timings Change: In view of the continuously rising temperatures, school timings in Lucknow have been revised. Classes will now be conducted from 7:30 AM to 12:30 PM. However, it has been made mandatory for teachers to remain present at the school until 1:30 PM. This decision has been taken with the objective of protecting children from heatstroke and the scorching sun.
What Did the Officials Say?
Pratap Singh Baghel, Director of Basic Education, stated that—considering the heat and heatwave conditions prevailing in the state—schools operating under the Basic Education Council will function from 7:30 AM to 1:30 PM. Academic instruction within the schools will take place from 7:30 AM to 12:30 PM, while morning assemblies and yoga sessions will be held from 7:30 AM to 7:40 AM.
Why was this decision necessary?
It is worth noting that over the past few days, temperatures in Lucknow have been soaring above 40°C. The scorching sun and blasts of hot wind during the afternoon dismissal hours have heightened the risk of children falling ill and suffering from dehydration. In response to demands from parents and teachers’ associations, the administration has taken this step to protect children from the blistering heat of the afternoon.
The National Educational Federation of Uttar Pradesh has put forward a highly practical demand regarding school timings. They assert that the academic burden placed upon children should be limited to what their bodies and minds can reasonably endure.
What is the organization’s demand?
The teachers’ association argues that school hours should be determined based on the prevailing weather conditions and should not be excessively long. They have proposed that during the summer, schools should operate for a duration of only four and a half hours (from 7:30 AM to 12:00 PM). Conversely, during the winter, school hours should be restricted to just five hours. The organization’s leaders, Shivshankar Singh and Pradeep Tiwari, have cited several concrete reasons to substantiate this stance. State General Secretary Pradeep Tiwari noted that, under the Right to Education (RTE) Act, the number of working days and instructional hours for schools within a single academic session has already been prescribed. Specifically, this mandate stipulates 200 working days and 800 hours for classes 1 through 5, and 220 working days and 1,000 hours for classes 6 through 8.
