Let the Bell Rest Too

Let the Bells Rest Too

There is a rhythm to childhood—its joys, its silences, its seasons. Summer, in that rhythm, is not merely a pause in the school calendar. It is a breathing space for young minds and weary teachers, a time when the rustle of books is replaced by the rustle of leaves, and learning slips quietly into life itself.

The recent circular from the Directorate of School Education Kashmir, cautioning private schools against compelling students and teachers to attend during the officially declared summer vacation, is more than a bureaucratic reminder—it is a moral call to honour the essence of rest.

To deny children this pause, under the guise of remedial classes or “productive engagement,” is to misread the soul of education. It breeds fatigue, not wonder; compliance, not creativity. The classroom has its sanctity—but so do the orchards, the riverbanks, and the quiet afternoons where a child rediscovers their own pace.

Let us not turn every season into a timetable. Let summer be summer. Let the school bells rest too.

Tariqueraheem1920@gmail.com