At least one private school that was scheduled to work on Saturday decided not to because of the heat.
Another school has asked teachers to take a break if they feel fatigued, even in the middle of a class.
Several schools reopened this week and many teachers reported restlessness among the children in the classroom.
The uncomfortable weather has made it difficult for students in non-air-conditioned classrooms to concentrate on what was being taught, several teachers said.
Many schools are scheduled to reopen on Monday, some of them having extended their holiday following a government order.
The government had asked schools to extend their vacation till June 15 because of the heat.
The Heritage School, which was scheduled to have a working Saturday, decided to stay closed.
“We had two days of in-person classes (Thursday, Friday) and were scheduled to work on Saturday. But on Friday, we decided to give off on Saturday because of the heat. We will make up for it on another Saturday,” said Anil Jha, academic coordinator (Classes XI and XII) at the school.
“The students were restless and unable to concentrate on their studies. We thought it would not be right to call them to school on Saturday in this heat,” said Jha.
In many schools, students were looking forward to going to the computer or math labs.
“Our mathematics and language labs are air-conditioned and the classes who had those subjects in their routine felt it was like a prize. Students were engrossed in those classes like never before,” said Nupur Ghosh, vice principal, Mahadevi Birla World Academy.
Children looked tired after the first few periods. “Children are getting tired easily and more after the break or as the day progresses,” said Sujoy Biswas, principal, Rammohan Mission High School.
The school has decided to work on the second and fourth Saturdays to make up for the loss. But Biswas said if this weather continues, he would keep that on hold next Saturday. “We will have to wait for the rain till we can call students on Saturdays,” he said.
Across schools, teachers too, had a tough time taking classes, moving across floors or buildings.
Teachers have to speak almost non-stop during a period and some of them have back-to-back classes.
Mahadevi Birla World Academy, which is usually strict about rules while a teacher is in the class, has decided to be more relaxed.
“We have asked our teachers to take a break if they feel fatigued during a class. We have asked them to alert the teacher next door and then go to the staff room and resume the class a little later,” said Ghosh.
