Not in sync: 400 schools in Gujarat oppose Navratri vacation

Private schools in Gujarat have reacted aversely to the state government's decision to institute a vacation during Navratri in schools. Around 400 schools in Chief Minister Vijay Rupani's hometown Rajkot protested the government's decision on Monday morning and by evening, an equal number of schools from Surat joined the dissent.

The state government is yet to formalise this decision; Education minister Bhupendrasinh Chudasama and Minister of State for Education Vibhavari Dave made the announcement on Saturday.

The CM, however, denied having any such information while speaking to journalists at Rajkot. The state government has thus been pushed to make the official announcement, which is expected to be done on Tuesday.

An association of self-financing schools has decided to write to CM Rupani and the Education minister to roll back the decision. They are also requesting school managements in other cities to join the protest.

"As is, the first term is shortened by many holidays for festivals and schools also remain close due to heavy rainfall. There is also the Diwali vacation, and now there will be 10 days off for Navratri too," says Ajay Patel, president of Self-Finance School Association in Rajkot. "We make a syllabus planner in June before school opens, and adjust periods accordingly. A long vacation of 10 days will disturb the syllabus which cannot be recovered in any case."

Another quandary is that the Education minister has announced the vacation from October 15 to 21, when Navratri falls from October 10 to 18.

However, Chudasama soon realised his mistake and said revised dates will be announced on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, many leading universities in the state have scheduled Navratri vacation as per previous announcement and examinations also have been set accordingly. If the dates are revised, they will be in a fix.

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