Many schools ignore Diwali vacation orders – Times of India

TOI had reported on Thursday how schools had decided to straightaway defy the order and keep the last working day on October 30.

A CBSE school principal, who did not wish to be identified, said, “We went ahead with exams in online mode for kids up to Std VIII. Physical exams were held as per schedule for Std IX. Problem is that we just can’t push the stop button in less than 24 hours. The exam schedule is planned at least one month in advance, sometime even earlier if it had been a non-Covid year. Now because restrictions keep coming and going, we can’t plan too far ahead.”
The reason that schools were even more unhappy was because the education department prohibited them from holding online classes too. A principal said, “What is their problem if we are holding online exams and classes? We want that exams for this term must be over before Diwali so that teachers get enough time for evaluation. Also, after Diwali, we will be busy with Std X and XII term-1 exams.”

Even state board schools chose to defy the education department’s notification. A principal said, “On Wednesday afternoon, we received a letter that from Thursday vacations will start. In their earlier letter, it was to start from November 1. It’s unacceptable that those sitting in mantralaya can act as they please.”

Education officials too seem to have looked the other way and not penalized any school for flouting the orders. Officially, the education department did not receive any complaints, so for them, everything was closed.

Unofficially, they know that schools are not at fault. An education official said, “We were told that the government had to conduct some survey and that’s why these vacations got pre-poned by two-three days. Schools already had exams scheduled, not all but quite a few, so they went ahead with that. Majority of them, however, held these exams online.”