Putting an end to the controversy over schools remaining open on December 25, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) on Tuesday said that it has not issued any such directions.
A circular issued by the CBSE further stated that all Kendriya Vidyalays will remain closed on December 25 and students can participate in the online essay competition if they desire.
It further stated that the vacation schedule will be adhered to by the Kendriya Vidyalays and that the students participating in the voluntary online essay competition can do so from their homes or any other place of their choice.
The clarification by the CBSE came in wake of the controversy over government’s decision to celebrate December 25 as the ‘Good Governance Day’’ to mark former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s birthday on the day Christmas is celebrated world over.
The government had denied media reports suggesting that it had issued instructions asking schools to remain open on December 25 to observe ‘Good Governance Day’.
In a circular dated December 10, the Navodaya Vidyalas, which falls under the HRD Ministry, has asked its schools to celebrate the birthday of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee as well as Madan Mohan Malaviya on December 25 “in its true spirit” by holding activities like declamation contests, quiz competitions and screening of documentaries related to good governance.
HRD Minister Smriti Irani dismissed as “baseless and inaccurate” the media reports suggesting that schools would remain open on December 25 to observe ‘Good Governance Day’.
Irani said the essay competition that the schools JNVs would be organising would be “voluntary” in nature and conducted online.
