Sofia extends school holidays again because of cold classrooms
Bulgaria’s capital Sofia has again extended what began as the Christmas school holiday, with schools now due to re-open on January 12, Sofia mayor Yordanka Fandukova said on January 10.
The extension of the holiday by one further day was decided on because measurements showed that 70 per cent of the schools had not reached the required minimum temperatures in classrooms.
Bulgarian school classrooms must have a minimum temperature of 18 degrees Celsius. With Sofia, like the rest of Bulgaria, having experienced a series of days of temperatures well below zero degrees, and with heating having been lowered during the scheduled holidays, it was taking longer to get classrooms up to minimum requirements.
Schools in only 27 municipalities in Bulgaria opened on January 10.
Initially, Bulgaria’ Christmas school holiday, which began on December 23, was supposed to end on January 4 with pupils returning to their desks on January 5.
But schools throughout the country were closed on January 5 and 6 because of flu epidemics in various parts of the country, along with sub-zero temperatures everywhere. This was then extended again, including in Sofia, where January 9 and 10 were declared non-school days.
Schools in various parts of Bulgaria are expected to open over various days before the end of this week. At very least, all schools should be open by January 16.
(Photo: Clive Leviev-Sawyer)
/Panorama
