Not just students, teachers too enjoy break from classes

CHENNAI: Several lakh students in Tamil Nadu heaved a sigh of relief after receiving a much-needed break from online classes till September 25 as part of quarterly holidays. All schools have been strictly instructed not to conduct any online class or give any assignment during this period.

Annually, schools declare holiday in September soon after the quarterly exams. “Though students have been staying at home, these five-day will be considered as holidays to relieve the stress they face due to online classes,” said a senior official from the School Education Department, adding that action would be taken against schools if they organised online classes during the holiday.

Even as they welcomed it, parents, students, and even teachers said the holiday should be extended by a few more days as the festival season has started. “The holidays could be extended till the end of September so that children can participate in the festival and religious activities,” S Rukmani, who has two school-going children.

K Savithiri, teacher at a private school in Pammal, added that the break would refresh teachers, too, pointing out that they have been working for online classes since July. She added that most private school teachers could not take personal leave since then, after being instructed not to take leave until the situation returned to normalcy.

S Vignesh Babu, a Class 12 student at a private school in Nungambakkam, said that unlike regular classes, students like him had to concentrate harder during the online sessions. “This holiday will help us to refresh our mind. However, we would have been further happy if the holidays could be extended for a few more days,” he added.