The policy for reopening schools will have to be changed. This is the need of the hour. Parents and stakeholders have urged the education department to start the academic year from April to June to avoid summer heat waves, dehydration and high humidity in schools. Although the academic year starts in April for many classes to comply with NEP 2020, fierce opponents argue that this will cause immense hardship to students.
Last year, parents, MLAs and PTA chiefs had argued that schools face severe power and water shortages, making it unsafe for students to attend during the hottest months.
There are concerns that heatstroke, dehydration and suffocation are leading to fatigue in students, especially when schools are not properly ventilated or air-conditioned. Therefore, instead of starting in April, there are demands to go back to the traditional June start for all standards.
For the 2025-26 academic year, some classes were scheduled to resume in early April, while others (such as classes 1 to 5) were scheduled to resume later, even though the overall policy was challenged. Now that policy should be changed permanently. Goa is no Matheran to experience a cool climate.
Parents have already suggested that school holidays be strictly scheduled during the hot summer months, ensuring that children are not in school in April and May henceforth.
The focus of this request for a policy change is to re-evaluate the implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 in the context of Goa’s extreme weather conditions. The government should consider this plea of the parents of Goa.
