Townhall Times, New Delhi
Reporter: Bhavika Kalra
For decades, the double-shift model was the only way to handle the population explosion in cities like Gurugram, Faridabad, and Rohtak. But the government is realizing that “half-day schooling” is producing “half-baked” results.
1. The Death of the ‘Compressed’ Period
In a double-shift system, everything is rushed. Classes are shorter, there’s zero time for labs, and sports? Forget about it.
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The Single-Shift Advantage: Moving to a 7:00 AM – 2:00 PM (approx.) schedule adds nearly 2 hours of extra instructional time every single day.
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Instructional Depth: Teachers can actually finish a lesson instead of racing against the bell for the afternoon batch to take over their desks.
2. The Summer Heat Factor
Let’s be real studying in a Haryana government school classroom at 2:30 PM in May is a nightmare.
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Student Exhaustion: Attendance and concentration levels crater during the afternoon shift because of the brutal heat.
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Safety First: A single morning shift ensures that the most intense learning happens when the brain (and the weather) is coolest.
3. The Infrastructure Crisis (The Real Hurdle)
This is where the plan hits a wall. If you merge two shifts into one, you suddenly need double the classrooms at the exact same time.
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The Classroom Gap: In many urban schools, there simply isn’t enough land to build more rooms.
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The Budget: We are talking about a massive investment in civil construction, furniture, and labs. The government is essentially looking at a multi-billion-rupee bill to make this transition happen.
4. Teacher Burnout vs. New Hiring
Right now, the workload is fragmented. A single-shift system would require a massive wave of recruitment to maintain a healthy student-teacher ratio.
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NEP 2020 Alignment: This move isn’t just a whim; it’s part of the National Education Policy’s goal to provide “holistic” education. You can’t have “holistic” development in a 4-hour school day.
5. The Parental Split
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The Supporters: Most parents are thrilled. A morning schedule is predictable and safer.
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The Skeptics: Some low-income families rely on staggered shifts so older siblings can look after younger ones or help with household work while the other is at school. A uniform timing might disrupt these fragile domestic setups.
The Bottom Line
he 3-day deadline for the report shows that the department is under serious pressure to deliver results. If they actually pull this off, it could be the biggest upgrade to Haryana’s education system in decades. But without a massive “bricks and mortar” investment, it might just end up being another file gathering dust in Chandigarh.
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