Patna, Jan. 10: For students, the extended winter vacation is fine and full of fun for now. But the unscheduled holidays are likely to put a wet, err cold blanket, on regular school activities.

Authorities have decided to push ahead with the syllabus once the schools reopen. There would be extra classes and cut down on extra-curricular activities.

“We will have to hurry up to finish the syllabus on time. We will be concentrating more on academics now and less on extra-curricular activities. PT classes will be pruned. We will also have classes on the second Saturday of every month,” said A.C. Jain, the principal of DAV, Khagaul.

The human resource development (HRD) department has extended the winter vacation this year to January 14 because of the prevalent cold conditions. Most of the schools were scheduled to open on January 3 after the winter vacation but the HRD department extended it to January 8. Then, on January 9, the HRD department extended the vacation to January 14 because of the cold wave conditions in most places in the state. Since January 15 is a Saturday, most schools are likely to reopen on January 17, said a source.

The Diwali and Chhath vacations were also extended this year because of the Assembly elections. The holidays overshooting their schedules have affected the syllabus deadlines in a number of schools, said a source.

“More than 10 per cent of the syllabus is still incomplete in our school,” said Anjali, a Class XII student of a city school. The pre-board examinations would start as soon as the school reopened and the syllabus would have to be completed by the students at home, she added.

Parents, too, are a worried lot. “My son is a student of Class VII and his syllabus is still incomplete. With the holidays being extended continuously because of the weather, we are worried about when the syllabus would be completed in school,” said Rohan Agrawal, a parent.

Early planning, however, seems to have helped some of the schools.

“We were prepared for the cold conditions. So our syllabus is up to date. But we will have extra classes if needed,” said D.K. Mukherjee, the principal of Gyan Niketan. Mukherjee added that a one-act play, which the students were supposed to stage in January, had been postponed to April.

Brother Felix, the principal of Loyola High School, said: “Our school reopens on January 17. The syllabus is almost complete but we will have extra classes if needed.” The school already has a six-day week, so the syllabus is not lagging, the principal added.

Some schools, however, do not want to race with time or cut down on other activities.

“Life is more important than completing the syllabus. If the weather does not permit it, we will not reopen the school,” said S.K. Singh, the principal of Patna Central School.

Singh added: “Cultural events are as important as academics. We may have extra classes for classes I to XI, but only if absolutely necessary.”