Uttar Pradesh's Department of Basic Education has reversed its earlier order, which required schools to remain open on two Sundays -Janmashtami and Chehlum holidays, as day-to-day duties were assigned to be completed by the institutions.
After the opposition from teachers associations on the same, the state-run primary and upper primary schools will remain closed on Sundays and for Janmashtami and Chehlum during the ‘Swachhata Pakhwada’.
The Swachhata Pakhwada will now be celebrated by the schools on any date between September 1 -15. According to Director General of Basic Education, Vijay Kiran Anand, the celebration will now be conducted on the following day.
The Uttar Pradesh Primary Teachers Association were strongly against the the decision with the President of the Uttar Pradesh Shikshak Mahasangh, Dinesh Chandra Sharma stating in an interview that school teachers can't work on Sundays as they are 'not machines, but humans'.
The Association also went onto claim that it has become a norm for the education department to release notices mandating schools to remain open at odd hours.
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