Gurugram Schools Closed due to Severe Heatwaves

Due to the intense heat in India, the Haryana government has ordered all public, government-aided, and private schools in Gurugram to close from 27th May to 31st May for children in Kindergarten to Class VIII because of the extreme heat. The education department of Haryana declared on Sunday that, because of the rising temperatures, government, semi-government, and private schools should stay closed for the foreseeable future.

“Due to the intense heat in the Gurugram district, all government and semi-government private schools from Balvatika to Class VIII have a holiday from May 27 to May 31, 2024, in accordance with the directives issued by the Director, Secondary Education Haryana, Panchkula via letter No. SPL5/19-2024 dated May 19, 2024,” the official order stated.

All schools will have summer break from 1st June 2024 to 30th  June 2024, with courses returning on 1st July 2024. Recently, the Haryana government also changed the times of the schools. The single shift’s classes started at 7 a.m. and went until noon. Double-shifting involved two shifts: the first from 7 am to 11.30 am and the second from 11.45 am to 4:15 pm.

A red alert for a heatwave has been issued by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) for many northern states, including Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, Gujarat, and Rajasthan, and it is valid until 28th May 2014. A “severe heatwave” signal was also issued by the agency for Delhi and Haryana.

Despite the weather department warning the states about the spike in temperature, parents and children were becoming concerned about the schools remaining open. Nonetheless, the district commissioner issued a directive today at 8:00 p.m. mandating that all schools be closed through the end of the month.

Due to the heatwave, all pre-primary and primary schools in Haryana’s Una district—both public and private—were closed until 25th May 2024. It is anticipated that classes will resume on Monday.