School reopening postponed to June 10 due to bad weather; TN education director issues notice

CHENNAI: The reopening of schools in Tamil Nadu has been postponed to June 10 due to extreme heat. Director of School Education G. Arivoli announced the news in a press conference. The scheduled date for reopening was June 6th but this had to be revoked due to the sweltering heat in the state. The current decision applies to all government and private schools.

In the union territory of Puducherry, the school reopening date has been postponed to June 12 due to a similar heatwave. PMK founder S. Ramadoss and TMC(M) president GK Vasan had earlier requested the government to delay the reopening of schools in the state.

Meanwhile, the education department has yet to renew the accreditation of 20 per cent of the 7,000 private schools in Tamil Nadu. The recognition of 1500 schools was not renewed citing various deficiencies. Private schools have to submit applications for renewal of approval every three years along with documents like building licences, fire certificates and sanitation certificates.

In 2016, it was made mandatory for school buildings to obtain a regularization certificate from the Directorate of Town and Country Planning (DTCP) or the Local Planning Authority (LPA). These certificates should be submitted to the Department of School Education for renewal of recognition of the schools.