As pollution has been on an alarming rise in Delhi for the past few days, schools in the national capital have been ordered to declare an early winter break this year from November 9 to 18.

The city’s Directorate of Education made this announcement on Wednesday, noting that “no respite from adverse weather conditions” has been predicted for the next few days.

The decision was taken at a meeting chaired by Environment Minister Gopal Rai and attended by Education Minister Atishi, Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot and senior Delhi government officials, PTI reported.

Also Read: Schools in Noida to remain closed till November 10 due to pollution | Details inside

In an order dated November 8, the directorate of education has said that that “winter break for the session 2023-24 is ordered to be advanced so that schools can be totally closed and both children and teachers can stay at home.”

The order signed by the education director Himanshu Gupta stated, “In wake of implementation of GRAP-4 measures due to Severe air quality prevailing in Delhi and seeing that no respite from such adverse weather conditions in near future is predicted by the IMD, the winter break for the session 2023-24 is ordered to be preponed so that schools can be totally closed and both children and teachers can stay at home. Accordingly, all schools shall observe winter break with effect from November 9 2023 to November 18 2023. Heads of school to convey this information to parents immediately.”

The order adds that further orders in the remaining portion of the winter will be issued in due course of time.

Also Read: Delhi air quality slips back into ‘severe’ category, AQI at 421

On Monday, Gopal Rai had announced that all Delhi schools had been directed to suspend physical classes, except for those in Class 10 and 12, till Friday due to alarming air pollution levels.

Delhi’s air quality ‘severe’

Delhi’s air quality index (AQI) was recorded in the severe category on Wednesday with an AQI of 425 being recorded at 1 pm by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). After recording five consecutive ‘severe’ air days, Delhi’s air quality returned to the ‘very poor’ category on Tuesday and dipped back to the ‘severe’ category on Wednesday morning.

Several air monitoring stations, including Anand Vihar, Dwarka, Shadipur, Mandir Marg, ITO, R K Puram, Punjabi Bagh, North Campus, Mathura Road, Rohini, Patparganj, Okhla, India Gate, Mundka recorded and AQI above 400 at 6 am.

AQI in Anand Vihar was recorded at 452, in RK Puram at 433, in Punjabi Bagh at 460 and in ITO at 413.