Gujarat: Schools welcome scrapping of 8-day-long Navratri vacation

With the state government finally scrapping the much debated Navratri vacation, schools in the city have welcomed the decision. After the government had declared an eight-day Navratri vacation in 2018, many self-financed schools had expressed their apprehensions stating that the move would adversely affect studies, especially of those appearing for Class X and XII board exams.

The new announcement had also brought in a lot of confusion as earlier it was only applicable to state government schools and then, was extended to CBSE, ICSE, and other boards. On Thursday, the government announced that the vacation has been scrapped owing to several representations made by the schools.

Welcoming the decision, Anisha Shaikh, principal, FD High School for Girls in Jamalpur said, "It is a very good decision by the state government as it will not disturb the continuity of the studies and the academic year. Since there are exams immediately after the Navratri festival, if students are given holidays, it is likely to affect their studies. Instead of Navratri break, the state government this time should extend summer vacation (reopening) of schools by a week owing to an extreme heat wave in the state."

Surender Sachdeva, Principal, Delhi Public School, Bopal said, "This is a very good decision by the state government as it will not disturb the academic calendar and studies. We welcome it."A principal of a school in Bodakdev, requesting anonymity said, "The government has been changing its stand several times on Navratri. It never made any sense to give children holidays during Navratri and again within a span of 10 days or so, holidays for Diwali."

Another academician said, "Gone are the days when students would remain awake till early morning playing Garba. With stringent norms, these days, most societies allow playing Garba only till midnight. So giving a vacation for all nine days does not make sense."Nisha Patel, a parent of a 12-year-old girl said, "For my daughter, who loves playing Garba, Navratri vacation was indeed a good idea as she would get some rest in the morning and then prepare for her exams all day.

Garba becomes a stress buster for children. But nonetheless, with the heat prevailing in the state, I would prefer summer vacation extension rather than a Navratri vacation."As per rule, there should be 210 working days for children and 225 working days for teachers. A total of 154 holidays include 43 da\ys of summer vacation, 10 days of Diwali vacation, 5 days of winter vacation, 77 Saturday-Sundays and other holidays with 14 gazetted holidays.

Why Make Amends

On Thursday, the government announced that the vacation has been scrapped owing to several representations made by the schools. The break was meant for govt, CBSE, ICSE schools