The season meant for recovery is now an extended classroom, harming health and development. Authorities must regulate exploitative tuition and uphold the spirit and law of vacations.
By Advocate Mudasir Khan
When learning becomes a burden, childhood becomes the cost. Winter vacations in the Kashmir Valley were introduced as a practical and humane measure, acknowledging the region’s harsh climate and the physical and psychological toll it takes on children. For decades, the break allowed students to rest and study indoors during extreme cold, recover from academic fatigue, and spend meaningful time with their families. Today, however, that very purpose is being steadily undermined.
Across the Valley, as soon as schools shut for winter, a parallel education system springs to life. Private tuition centres reopen under new names — academies, study centres, winter schools — offering full-day classes from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., even for nursery and primary-level children. In effect, the school calendar continues uninterrupted; only the signboard changes.
Exploiting Fear And Financial Vulnerability
These centres thrive on fear, fear carefully planted in the minds of parents. Many are told that their children will “lose academic grip”, “fall behind classmates”, or struggle when schools reopen. For parents from economically weaker sections, daily wage earners, private-sector workers, and single-income households, the pressure is intense. Leaving young children unattended at home is risky, and private childcare is unaffordable. Tuition centres present themselves as the only “safe” option.
The result is a troubling paradox: children from poor families are denied rest in the name of academic survival, while their wealthier peers enjoy winter camps, home tutoring, or unstructured leisure.
What Is The Purpose Of Winter Vacation Then?
If children must attend classes for five to six hours daily during winter vacations, one must ask: why declare a break at all?
Winter vacations in Kashmir exist for well-established reasons — freezing temperatures, limited mobility, health risks, and the need for mental recovery after a demanding academic year. Turning this period into a continuation of formal schooling defeats both the educational and humanitarian intent behind the policy.
Impact On Mental Wellbeing
Child psychologists warn that prolonged academic engagement without breaks leads to early burnout. Small children subjected to continuous tuition show signs of irritability, anxiety, lack of concentration, and emotional withdrawal. Learning, instead of being joyful, becomes associated with pressure and fear.
The child’s mind needs pauses as much as it needs stimulation,” says a reputed counsellor. “When vacations are eliminated, we create stressed learners before adolescence.”
Physical Health Concerns In Harsh Winter
Kashmir winters already restrict outdoor activity. Long indoor tuition hours further reduce movement, sunlight exposure, and physical play. Many centres operate in overcrowded rooms with inadequate heating and ventilation, increasing vulnerability to illness.
Doctors point to rising cases of vitamin D deficiency, posture problems, weak immunity, and frequent respiratory infections among children attending long winter tuition sessions.
A Childhood Without Play
Beyond health, the practice erodes social and emotional development. Winter holidays traditionally allowed children to engage in storytelling, indoor games, reading for pleasure, and family interaction. These experiences shape emotional resilience and creativity.
Replacing them with worksheets and exams narrows childhood into a single dimension — academic performance.
Regulatory Gaps And Official Silence
Despite the scale of the issue, regulation remains virtually absent. Temporary tuition centres often operate without registration or oversight. Rebranding allows them to bypass scrutiny, and there are no clear guidelines on age-appropriate winter instruction.
Education authorities announce winter vacations but fail to enforce their spirit. The silence raises questions about accountability.
Legal Provisions Being Overlooked
The continuation of school-like academic schedules during winter vacations also raises serious legal concerns.
The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009, mandates that education be child-friendly and stress-free. Section 29 emphasises holistic development, development of physical and mental abilities to the fullest, making the child free of fear, trauma and anxiety and helping the child to express views freely, thereby discouraging academic overburdening, particularly for young children, a principle clearly undermined by full-day winter tuition.
The National Curriculum Framework (NCF) 2020 strongly discourages rote learning and prolonged instructional hours at the foundational stage. It recognises rest, play, and emotional well-being as essential components of learning, not optional add-ons.
From a child protection perspective, the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 201,5 recognises children whose mental or physical health is at risk due to exploitative conditions as children in need of care and protection. Prolonged academic pressure in harsh winter conditions may fall within this definition.
At the constitutional level, Article 21 guarantees the right to life with dignity, which includes the right to health and wholesome development, thereby prohibiting overburdened and year-round academic exploitation at the cost of a child’s well-being.
India is also a signatory to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which under Article 31 recognises a child’s right to rest, leisure, engage in play and participate freely in cultural life and the arts —rights effectively denied when winter breaks are converted into extended school sessions.
From a psychological stand point-Play is not a luxury; it is a psychological necessity. Through play, children learn problem-solving, empathy, communication, and self-regulation. Overburdening academics reduces free play time, leading to poor social skills, reduced emotional intelligence, and difficulty forming healthy peer relationships. Overburdening small children academically undermines their natural development. A healthy, happy, and emotionally secure child is far more likely to become a successful learner than one raised under constant academic pressure.
Finally, annual winter vacation notifications issued by the J&K School Education Department are policy decisions meant to safeguard children from extreme weather. Allowing parallel full-day tuition centres to function during this period defeats the very intent of these orders.
The Way Forward
Experts argue that addressing the issue requires a multi-pronged approach. Authorities must frame clear regulations prohibiting full-day academic tuition for pre-primary and primary students during winter breaks.
Schools should actively discourage winter tuition and reassure parents that rest will not compromise academic outcomes. Community-level alternatives — supervised play groups, reading clubs, and low-cost indoor activities — can provide safe spaces for children of working parents.
Most importantly, awareness must be raised that rest is not a setback but a necessity.
A Season Meant For Recovery
In a region that has witnessed prolonged uncertainty, children need protection from unnecessary pressure. Winter vacations were never meant to be an extension of the academic race.
When education becomes a year-round commercial exercise, childhood becomes the casualty. The Valley must decide whether winter will remain a season of recovery or permanently turn into another classroom.
The writer is a social activist
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