School Holidays Are Not Designed For Modern Parents. This Needs To Change

It is a well known fact that tradition forms an integral part of education systems across the globe. Be it the repetitive recitation of time tables or knotting the ties or even watching the sight of eager faces during the morning assembly, these various traditions have continued across generations in even the top schools in Gurgaon without undergoing any significant changes. However, there are some traditions, which despite having become obsolete with the changing times, continue to be a part of modern schooling. One such tradition is that of school holidays, which no longer suit the needs of a majority of parents in the modern times.

Most schools provide holidays to the children during the hot summer months. This has led people to believe that the tradition of summer break might be rooted in preventing the children from excessive exposure to heat leading to various health problems. However, this is not the exact reason that established the trend of school holidays. Rather, the concept is rooted in the agricultural heritage of the people in general. The evolution of the schooling system happened at a time, when most people still depended on agriculture and various other cottage industries for earning their livelihood. 

In most cases, all the members of the family, including the children helped in the various tasks related to the source of income. This was also one of the major reasons why the idea of sending the children to school for almost half day, every day did not go well with the masses. It was to counter this resistance that the concept of summer holidays was introduced as it ensured the availability of children at home when their families needed their help and support the most. The holidays were often scheduled around the time when the farmers required their kids to help them pick the produce or perform other such chores.

The most important change that has led to making school holidays redundant is the major shift in the means of livelihood of people in general. The number of people working in the agriculture sector has gone down by a significant margin. A large section of people today work in industrial sectors and business organizations, where the work schedules are completely different and time bound. Even in case of the small percentage of people working in the agriculture sector, farmers no longer rely on the help and support of their children in the fields. This in turn has made the whole concept on which the provision of school holidays was based, somewhat useless. 

Another major social change that has made school holidays useless for modern parents is the breakdown of the joint family culture. With both the parents having full time jobs and careers to take care of, in almost every urban household, the onset of school holidays in Gurgaon top schools, often leads to the creation of conflicting situations. This is especially true in case of nuclear families where the children are not used to living in the company of grandparents or other members of their extended families. In such households, working parents with kids in leading institutions such as Modern School in Gurgaon often have to deal with the issue of proper care and safety of their children for the entire duration of the summer break.

In view of the above discussion, it is quite clear that the idea of school holidays needs to be re-considered thoroughly. While it might not be advisable to completely cancel the holidays, the following steps can surely be taken by the top schools in Gurgaon to make them more relevant to the needs of the modern day parents.