Madhya Pradesh declares summer vacation for Classes 1-8 from April 15 to June 13 amid COVID-19 surge

Bhopal: The Madhya Pradesh government has declared summer holidays for two months for students of Classes 1 to 8 in the state in view of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The decision has been taken keeping in mind the safety and health of students, state School Education Minister Indar Singh Parmar said on Wednesday.

However, all government teachers of Classes 1 to 8 shall not leave the headquarters (of their posting) during the summer holidays till the completion of board exams as they may be required for duty and other related works, he said.

As per an order issued on Tuesday, students of Classes 1 to 8 of schools run and aided by the government will have holidays from April 15 to June 13, 2021, he said, adding that online teaching can be conducted for these classes till April 30.

The minister said all government and non-government hostels in the state have been closed with immediate effect. COVID-19 guidelines have been issued by the school education department to all district collectors, education officers, district project coordinators and principals in this regard.

As per the order, the board exams of Classes 10 and 12 will be conducted as per the instructions of the MP Board of Secondary Education, CBSE, ICSE and other boards concerned.

On Tuesday, Madhya Pradesh recorded 8,998 new cases of coronavirus, the biggest single-day spike in the state since outbreak of COVID-19 in March last year, pushing the infection count to 3,53,632.

The COVID-19 fatality count rose to 4,261 with 40 more deaths reported on Tuesday. This month, the state has so far reported 58,121 new cases of COVID-19 and 275 deaths due to the disease, as per official data.