No respite from summer, but schools reopen after vacation

This year, the summer has been particularly bad, which prompted many, including teachers, parents and political parties, to urge the State School Education Department to consider postponing the reopening by a few more days.

The Tamil Nadu Teachers Association (TNTA) president PK Ilamaran had requested the State to consider the request, pointing out that the soaring temperature and the heatwave could have an impact on the students’ health. The severe water shortage that they are facing are another factor that has put the school managements in a spot ahead of the opening. CPM State secretary K Balakrishnan had demanded the authorities to send water by tankers so as to address the crisis they were facing.

There were also demands to postpone the reopening till after Ramzan, as children from Muslim community would have to go to hardships to observe the fast and attend classes.

However, the School Education Department refused to heed to the requests and issued a circular last week ruling this out.

Officials said they have made arrangements to distribute the textbooks and notebooks to the students on the first day itself.

The schools had closed on April 12, over a week earlier than the usual date, as the State was going for polling for the Lok Sabha election on April 18.

Meanwhile, with the reopening of the State Board schools on Monday, the students who are availing free bus passes in government buses could continue to travel with their last year’s passes until the new ones are issued.

The State Transport Department has directed the bus conductors not to force school students to buy tickets if they had only the old bus passes. The conductors have also been directed not ask students wearing school uniforms to pay for their tickets. This arrangement would continue until the new bus passes are issued, officials said.

There were doubts among the students and parents over the validity of the old bus passes, which had expired at the end of 2018-19 academic year. Normally the conductors would not allow the students to travel using the old passes and ask them to buy tickets until their passes are renewed.