In light of the recent holidays for schools due to rains in Telangana, the State Council of Education and Research Training (SCERT) has proposed that schools cut short the upcoming Dussehra holidays by a few days, in order to make up for the syllabus. In a letter to the Director of School Education, SCERT director Radha Reddy wrote that so far in this academic year, there has been a loss of seven days of academic instruction. “I wish to submit that the government had declared holidays to school from September 11 to September 16 due to heavy rains and on September 17 for the National Integration Day,” she wrote, adding that the number of working days planned for this academic year are 230.
To make up for the holidays, the SCERT has proposed that the 14-day Dussehra vacation, scheduled from September 26 to October 9, be cut short by five days, and instead use these five days to teach. As per the letter, the SCERT proposes that the vacations be held from October 1 to October 9. Further, the letter seeks permission for all schools in the state to function on the second Saturday of five months — November 2022, December 2022, February 2023, March 2023 and April 2023, giving schools five additional working days.
On September 17, the Telangana government declared a holiday for all schools, colleges and government offices on the occasion of ‘Telangana National Integration Day’. The holiday was given to mark the year-long celebrations for ‘Hyderabad National Integration Day’.