Edu Dept Revises Order, Now Vidarbha Schools To Reopen June 22

Nagpur: It took a PIL before the Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court for the state education dept to recognise that reopening schools in Vidarbha on June 15 was not conducive to students' health. On Tuesday night, hours before the matter was scheduled to be heard, the dept withdrew its earlier order and postponed the reopening to June 22, a move many observers viewed as an attempt to avoid the court's wrath.Schools will initially function only in the morning session, with full-day classes permitted from July 1. The June 15 reopening was part of the state's effort to align Maharashtra's academic calendar. However, the decision overlooked stark regional variations in weather. While students in western Maharashtra, including Pune, are experiencing relatively moderate conditions, their counterparts in Nagpur and other parts of Vidarbha continue to face intense heat.Meanwhile, most CBSE schools have followed their own schedules and already resumed classes or are preparing to reopen before the state board schools.The episode has once again raised questions about the practicality of a uniform school calendar in a state where climatic conditions vary sharply across regions.