Srinagar: Education Minister Sakina Masood announced on Thursday that schools across Jammu and Kashmir would have their timings changed starting Monday, given the heat wave that the Valley is face to face with.
The minister also directed heads of the schools to arrange morning assemblies in spacious halls or in areas with shade to avoid children losing consciousness in the midst of intense heat. The administration, she claimed, will make a decision regarding summer vacations later.
“I have already instructed my department to change school timing starting Monday. Parents frequently call me, complaining their children lose consciousness due to extreme heat during the morning assembly,” the minister told reporters on the sidelines of an event here.
All Heads of Departments (HoDs), the minister said, have been notified that from Monday, the timing of all schools would be changed, and that a formal notification will be sent out separately in this regard.
“We will make a decision on summer vacations, but it will take some time. We’ll make an announcement in this regard later,” she said.
According to an official order issued by the Directorate of School Education Kashmir (DSEK), schools located within the Srinagar Municipal limits will now operate from 8:30 AM to 2:30 PM, while schools outside the municipal limits of Srinagar district and other areas of the Kashmir province will follow revised timings of 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM.
The order emphasized that the new schedule is binding for all educational institutions and warned that any deviation will be viewed seriously.
Meanwhile, Srinagar surpassed the previous heat records on Thursday as the city recorded the third highest-ever temperature in the month of May at 34.4 degree Celsius.
An independent Weather Forecaster, Faizan Arif Keng shared that Srinagar recorded the season’s highest day temperature today at 34.3 degree Celsius.
He also informed that the station has recorded the third highest-ever day temperature in the month of May in 133 years.
The previous record was 34.3 degree Celsius recorded on May 28, 1971, he said.
