Gujarat schools hit by heavy rain can hold classes on holidays to complete syllabus, say officials

Heavy rainfall and flooding in parts of south Gujarat have disrupted regular classroom teaching, but the state education department is working to ensure that students do not suffer academically because of the weather-related interruptions.According to PTI, officials said on Monday that completing the prescribed syllabus remains the education department’s primary concern. Schools in rain-affected districts have been given flexibility to adjust their academic schedules depending on local conditions.Education department prioritises syllabus completionMilind Torawane, Principal Secretary of Gujarat’s Education Department (Primary and Secondary Education), said the state curriculum provides for 220 academic days in a year, as reported by PTI. He explained that schools and local administrations can make necessary adjustments to the academic calendar in response to local circumstances.According to Torawane, the academic calendar still provides sufficient working days, even after accounting for Sundays and the scheduled summer and winter vacations. These available days can be utilised to make up for teaching time lost because of heavy rainfall.The official clarified that the objective is to complete the prescribed curriculum and not necessarily to conduct classes during every holiday.He also said there were no directions from the Centre requiring schools to follow a particular approach to compensate for weather-related disruption. Instead, schools and local authorities can decide how best to manage academic activities based on the situation on the ground.Schools can hold additional classesIn Valsad, one of the districts badly affected by the recent rainfall, schools were temporarily closed in areas hit by flooding. However, Nitin Sangwan, Valsad Collector, said the disruption to schooling was not as extensive as reported by PTI.Sangwan said schools could conduct classes on Saturdays, which are generally non-working days, if additional teaching time is required. He added that classes are particularly affected when authorities issue a red alert warning for extremely heavy rainfall.Schools, both government and private, can also organise special classes to ensure that students complete the syllabus within the stipulated academic period.The Valsad Collector said district authorities could issue directions for additional classes if circumstances warranted such measures.Replacement textbooks provided to affected studentsThe disruption has not been limited to classroom teaching. Some students in rain-affected areas also lost their textbooks during the flooding.Torawane said the education department had taken steps to replace the damaged or lost books after receiving details from affected districts. The replacements were distributed based on the information provided by local authorities.He said students whose textbooks were lost had received replacements, while the remaining books were also being delivered.The move is aimed at ensuring that students whose educational materials were destroyed in the floods are not further disadvantaged when schools resume regular academic activities.South Gujarat districts affected by heavy rainSeveral districts in south Gujarat, including Navsari, Valsad, and Surat, have witnessed heavy rainfall in recent days, affecting normal life in several areas.The downpour and flooding resulted in deaths in rain-related incidents, while thousands of people were rescued or shifted to safer locations. The adverse weather conditions also affected the functioning of educational institutions in some areas.Against this backdrop, education authorities are relying on flexible scheduling rather than extending the academic disruption. Officials have indicated that schools can use additional working days or special classes, wherever necessary, to bridge the teaching gap.For the education department, the immediate challenge is therefore twofold: allowing schools to respond to local weather conditions while ensuring that students ultimately receive the required classroom instruction and complete the prescribed curriculum.Get the latest Education News and Live updates. Download the TOI app.