Parents fret as students return to school in severe summer

After the annual exams were over, more than 50,000 schools across the state were closed for summer vacation. 

Though the schools were scheduled to open on Friday, parents and students were confused till Thursday evening, after a hoax message that said schools would reopen only on June 7 instead of Monday because of the heat, did the rounds in social media. 

Following this, the School Education Department clarified that the schools would be reopened as per schedule, as it wanted the students to start studying the new syllabus as soon as possible. 

However, ignoring the government order, many private schools are yet to reopen, with their managements deciding to start the classes either on Monday or  Wednesday. 

“The government should have extended the date of reopening of schools, which would have been very helpful for the students, who really suffered from the heat on Friday morning while going to school,” said S Shalini, a parent. 

Government school students received their uniforms, textbooks and other study materials free of cost. But for Class 11 students, the school authorities distributed only notebooks. 

The students were informed that the textbooks for Class 11 were expected to be distributed only by the second week of June. For the first time, the School Education Department has changed the colour and texture of the school uniforms, which now looks on a par with the private school ones. 

The uniforms would be distributed at all the government schools across the state. The Class 9 and Class 10 students would be wearing pink checked shirts and light grey trousers. The girls would get light grey ‘Nehru’ collared jackets and salwar coloured in pink and grey. 

Similarly, navy blue checked shirts and navy blue trousers have been distributed to Class 11 and Class 12 boys, while girls would wear navy blue ‘Nehru’ collared jackets and chequered navy blue salwar suits.