Union Minister of State for Education, Subhash Sarkar on Friday wondered why colleges in West Bengal have been given long summer vacations this 12 months when offline instructions are in place in states where heat wave conditions are worse. States, where the weather conditions are hot, have not declared any summer holidays so far, he told reporters here.
“The heat wave conditions are more acute in many different states but they have no longer taken any step like Bengal. Then why are faculties being closed for summer time vacation for such a long time from May two to mid June?” he asked a question. Mr Sarkar, who was once asked by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee last week to comment on the school summer vacation in advance, however made it clear that the country has the right to decide on the matter. The Union minister also said that what he said about the difficulty was once his own view.
Schools in Bengal reopened in mid-February this year after nearly two years due to the Covid pandemic. They quickly opened to higher classes in November 2021 but closed again due to a third wave of infections. Asked to comment on West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar’s complaint that vice-chancellors of the country’s universities were not attending meetings known as state university chancellors, Mr Sarkar said it was unfortunate.
“I will have to get information about reports that the VCs are now not attending meets known as through the governor, I will have to comprehend in detail,” he added. On the current controversy about Visva Bharati University, where a student’s unnatural death precipitated agitation by using students, Mr Sarkar said, “There is politics in every difficulty of the central university. This cannot be accepted. We are worried about Visva Bharati. “We do not favor that the heritage of the college based by means of Tagore gets diminished in any way,” he added.
The union minister stated that almost all states are evaluating the New Education Policy, 2020, draft which is holistic and liberal in nature. “Let West Bengal be associated with NEP 2020 or we will be trailing behind. The declare that it is aimed at saffronising is wrong as additionally the idea that it will assist in privatising the education sector,” he added.