Published on: Aug 08, 2025 07:44 am IST
Last-minute holiday changes in Mumbai disrupt exam schedules for schools, frustrating students and teachers as assessments are rescheduled.
MUMBAI: A last-minute change in festive holidays has forced government and government-aided schools to rejig the exam schedule of the Progressive Assessment Test (PAT), causing frustration among students, teachers and school staff.
Confusion arose on Thursday after the state Education Department issued a circular, informing schools that the state government had declared a holiday for Narali Pournima on Friday, August 8, and another for Gauri Visarjan, on September 2, while cancelling the holidays previously scheduled for Dahi Handi on August 16 and Anant Chaturdashi on September 6.
This unexpected switch has disrupted the ongoing Progressive Assessment Test (PAT) conducted by the Education Department from August 6 to 8. The English paper, originally scheduled for Friday, August 8, has been rescheduled to Monday, August 11. Many schools had communicated the original exam schedule to students and parents, and the circular on Thursday was released too late for timely updates.
Srinivas Narayan, a parent from South Mumbai, asked how students could attend school on days like Dahi Handi and Anant Chaturdashi, when heavy traffic and public celebrations disrupt vehicular movement.
Teachers and school managers are also upset. They say these last-minute decisions interfere with pre-planned academic schedules. Subhash More, a representative of the Shikshak Bharati Sanghatana, a teachers’ union, had written to the Education Department, urging them not to change the school calendar mid-year, as it creates confusion for everyone.
The University of Mumbai has also been forced to postpone some of its exams scheduled for Friday due to the revised holidays.
