Bhubaneswar: Schools across the state will reopen on Tuesday after being shut for a week due to heat.

Earlier, the state government had extended the vacations till June 21. The schools were earlier set to open on June 18, but due to the gradual rise in temperature, the government extended the school holidays twice.

Teachers have heaved a sigh of relief but are worried over the timely completion of syllabus, especially for the higher standards. "The syllabus is very huge. The extension of holidays has made it difficult for us to complete the syllabus on time. We have arranged for extra classes to finish the syllabus," said Monalisa Patra, teacher at a government high school in Bhubaneswar.

Parents had a mixed response to the development. "It was very difficult for the students to attend school with so much heat. It is good that holidays were extended," said Shantanu Mishra, father of a Class X student.

Another parent, Subhas Jena, said: "Classes should have been held at least for the higher standards. It will create pressure not only on the teachers, but also on the students."

Schools have been requested to make suitable arrangements to make up for the loss. "We have requested teachers to try and adjust the loss because of extra holidays at their convenience," said school and mass education minister Badri Narayan Patra.

In another development, the regional meteorological department in Bhubaneswar on Monday informed that the southwest monsoon that had weakened after arrival in the state on June 8 became active again and was likely to cover the entire state within 36 hours.

According to sources, heavy rainfall may lash northern parts of the state in the next 12 hours due to a cyclonic circulation over the southwest and northwest Bay of Bengal.

Mild rainfall in Cuttack, Bhubaneswar, Paradip, Balasore and Puri has brought much needed respite from the scorching heat in coastal parts of the state.

Paradip recorded the highest rainfall of 60mm, while Puri has received 26mm rainfall in the past 24 hours.