West Bengal school summer breaks 2025 brought forward by a week owing to increasing heat

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced on Thursday that summer holidays in schools in West Bengal will start earlier than planned, due to the increasing temperature throughout the state. Addressing the media at the state secretariat, Nabanna, Banerjee said that the Education Department will make a formal notification bringing forward the beginning of the summer holidays to April 30, 2025, for primary, secondary, and higher secondary schools.

Summer holidays generally start in the second week of May, with the academic year initially setting May 9 as the opening date this year. The rescheduling, however, has been done as a precautionary step because of the prevailing heatwave-like situation in some districts.

Banerjee also pointed out that with Sundays and other holidays added, the students will have about 12 to 13 days off before the break actually starts. She further stated that the Education Department would soon bring out detailed instructions on how the new schedule should be implemented by the schools.

India Meteorological Department (IMD) reported that Kolkata saw its maximum temperature reach 34.4°C on Thursday. As the temperatures have risen slowly with no indications of rainfall or seasonal Kalbaishakhi (Norwester) in sight, the scenario has alarmed people all over the state.

Some of the districts, Bankura, Purulia, Jhargram, East and West Medinipur, Howrah, Hooghly, North 24 Parganas, and South 24 Parganas, had previously made pleas to modify school timings in the face of the heat. The said districts had petitioned the Primary Education Board, suggesting morning classes for primary pupils in a bid to lower exposure to the sun during ordinary school time.

The move to shift the summer vacation is intended to protect students' health and welfare amidst increasing temperatures throughout West Bengal.