Patna, Jan. 2: School students will not have to venture out of home in biting cold to attend classes. Their institutions will remain closed till January 8 because of cold conditions.

With the temperature taking a nosedive in the past few days, the state government has asked both private and government schools to suspend all classes. Most schools were scheduled to open on January 3, after the Christmas and winter vacations.

State human resource development department principal secretary Anjani Kumar Singh told The Telegraph: “There has been a fall in temperature over the past few days. So the state government has decided to keep all the schools shut till January 8.”

Delhi Public School, St Michael’s School, St Joseph’s Convent High School, Notre Dame Academy as well as all the DAV schools would remain closed.

Singh said: “All government schools have been asked to remain closed. Private schools have also been requested to suspend classes for the stipulated period. They have accepted our request.”

The decision has come as a relief, especially for children, who have to brave the morning cold to go to school. Parents, too, have welcomed the move.

“This is a good decision. The sudden dip in temperature makes it very difficult for children to go to school in the morning,” said Sikha Singh, the mother of four-year-old Tanmay. Her son is a student of Kidzee School.

“My son has to wake up at 6.30am to go to school. Not only is the chill uncomfortable, the early morning fog also makes the conditions difficult,” added Singh, a resident of Bailey Road.

DAV, Khagaul principal A.C. Jain told The Telegraph: “We had earlier decided to keep the school closed because of the weather. Our students were told so on December 31.”

Last year too, a severe cold wave had forced us to keep the school closed in the first week of January. We assumed the weather conditions would be no different this year and took a call in advance,” added Jain.