The private schools of the State Capital will remain closed on the days of the voting in the Assembly election in the State. Among the 62 schools including Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE) and Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), seven schools will remain closed on December 1 and 2 while others will be closed on December 9 and likely on December 8 as well.
The decision comes after a meeting of District Administration Officials with the School Principals was held on November 3. Second phase elections on December 2 cover 20 constituencies like Tamar, Mandar, Khunti and Torpa wherein schools buses are required for managing the elections from the capital. The third polling phase on December 9 covers 16 constituencies like Ranchi, Kanke and Hatia where the requirement of school buses is far more than the second phase.
District Transport Officer Nagendra Paswan said buses of seven schools namely St Thomas School, Bishop Westcott Boys and Girls School Namkom, Tender Heart School, Guru Nanak Higher Secondary School, lala lajpat Rai School Pundag and Sarala Birla School will be acquired by November 29 evening.
“The buses of remaining schools will be taken by the evening of December 6. All private schools will probably be closed for two days as November 30 and December 7 are Sundays,” he added.
Notably, the syllabus of the academic session will be least affected because of these election holidays. School Principals have found a solution to tackle the hurdle. “If the schools are closed for two days, we will manage the classes on second Saturday which is usually a holiday,” Guru Nanak Higher Secondary School Principal Manohar lal said.
Similarly, Tender Heart School Principal Manju Gargi said they will arrange extra classes after the school reopens.
Also, there are rare chances of an examination in any of the schools in December which has added a “relaxed feeling” for the Principals.
The Administration needs around 64 big buses, 125 mini buses and 72 vehicles in the second phase. In the third phase there is a need of 493 big buses, 283 mini buses and 175 small vehicles. Government Schools on the other hand with no bus facility will deploy some of its teachers and non-teaching staffs in the electoral process. Ranchi District Education Officer Shiv Charan Marandi said, “The schools will obviously be closed on Dec 9 due to the polling schedule here. But, we are planning to close in some other dates of the first week as well since most of our employees have been called for election duties.”