Delhi schools shut until Jan 12 for students up to Class 5 due to cold weather

Schools in Delhi will remain closed for the next five days for students from nursery to Class 5 due to the cold weather conditions in the national capital, Education Minister Atishi said on Sunday.

“Schools in Delhi will remain closed for the next five days due to the prevailing cold weather conditions, for students from Nursery to Class 5,” she wrote on X.

Schools in Delhi have been shut for winter break since January 1 and classes were supposed to resume from January 8 (Monday).

On Saturday, the Delhi government issued an order, extending the winter break till January 10. But hours later, the Directorate of Education retracted the order, saying it was “incorrectly issued”. Officials said a decision on whether to reopen the schools amid the cold weather conditions will be taken on Sunday.

For the past few days, Delhi and its neighbouring states have been experiencing cold to severe cold day conditions with the maximum temperatures dropping below normal as a layer of fog has blocked out the sunlight.

In its forecast, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said, “Cold day to severe cold day conditions are likely to continue in Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi and Rajasthan during the next two days and significant decrease thereafter.”

On Saturday, the national capital recorded a maximum temperature of 15.2 degrees Celsius, four notches below normal, the IMD said. The minimum temperature on Sunday morning was recorded at 8.2 degrees Celsius, a degree above normal.

The weatherman has predicted shallow fog and the maximum and minimum temperatures are expected to settle at 16 and 8 degrees Celsius, respectively.