Several schools on Thursday decided to close for summer or switch to online classes from next week.
The decision followed an appeal to private schools by chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday to start summer vacation from Friday.
The La Martiniere schools, The BSS School and the Julien Day Schools in Calcutta, Howrah, Ganganagar and Kalyani decided to honour an appeal by the chief minister.
All these schools had one more week of in-person classes before closing, but they decided to make a departure from their scheduled academic calendar.
“Honouring the chief minister’s appeal, we have decided to switch to online classes for a week from Monday,” said Supriyo Dhar, secretary, La Martiniere schools.
Summer vacation in state-run schools started on April 30.
The chief minister said she was not sending any written instructions but making a request.
“It is an appeal from us. The holidays have already started in state-run schools,” Mamata had said.
“It is better for children to stay at home. Let them be at home and study,” she said.
The BSS School will draw up an online timetable for middle and senior school to be followed next week, the principal said.
“There has been a request from the chief minister, and it’s hardly a matter of a week, so we decided to make the change. For some subjects like English, math, we will conduct online classes for students from Class VI upwards,” said Sunita Sen, principal, The BSS School.
After the chief minister’s appeal, several schools conducted internal meetings on Thursday. Some of them will decide on Friday, they said.
“We were scheduled to close from May 16. When the chief minister has appealed to declare summer vacation, it has some concerns, and we have to honour that. As a school, we are taking a precautionary measure,” said Terence John, director of education and development, Julien Day Schools.
Several schools on Wednesday conducted a mock drill for students, teachers and staff and trained them on the basics of looking for cover, evacuating a building and how to reach a safe spot during an emergency.