KVS closes schools in 16 regions from May 8 for 40-day summer break

NEW DELHI, May 7 — Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan begins its 2026 summer vacation from May 8 across 16 of its 25 regional offices, with schools reopening on June 17 for a 40-day break. Delhi, Chandigarh, Lucknow, Patna, Ranchi, Jammu, Agra, Jabalpur, Dehradun, Gurugram, Kolkata, Guwahati, Silchar, Tinsukia and Varanasi are all in the May 8 cohort, covering more than 1,250 of the 1,250-plus PM SHRI and standard KV schools nationally.

The 40-day window matters operationally because KVS schools share the academic calendar but not the holiday cohort. Eight other regions — Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Raipur, Bhubaneswar and Bhopal — closed earlier on May 3 and reopen on June 21. Ernakulam and KV MAHE shut on April 9 and reopen May 29. Result: a parent transferring between regions mid-break can find their child re-entering school four weeks earlier or later than the previous posting.

The vacation schedule was published by KVS as Office Memorandum F.110239/04/2024-KVS(HQ)/Acad on January 21, 2026, signed by the Joint Commissioner (Academics). The same circular fixes the autumn break (October 21 to October 31 for most plain-station regions) and the winter break for hill stations (December 28 to January 7). Plain-station and hill-station regions follow separate calendars; the May 13 to May 22 window applies only to KVS schools at winter stations such as Leh and Tawang. "The schedule shall be strictly followed and any deviation shall require prior approval of the Commissioner, KVS," the memorandum stated. Principals have been instructed to brief class teachers, communicate dates to parent WhatsApp groups by May 5, and ensure hostel KVs make alternative residential arrangements for boarders unable to travel home.

This is the same 40-day calendar KVS has run since the 2023-24 session, which itself was an extension on the older 35-day break to align with the National Education Policy emphasis on rest weeks. Other school networks have moved to longer windows in response to the heatwave — see Chhattisgarh's 57-day closure and the statewide timing changes across north India.

School offices in May 8 cohort regions have one more working day to close out attendance registers, dispatch progress reports, and confirm that the bus-route notifications and parent broadcast templates are scheduled to fire on June 16. The next KVS calendar moment is the autumn break notification, expected by mid-September.

Source: KVS Sangathan official portal, Goodreturns school holiday tracker. Original notice: KVS HQ vacation memorandum.

Related on Inkwelly

For schools winding down before vacation:

• School Events & Calendar — mark vacation cohorts so attendance, fees and timetable behave correctly
• Monthly Attendance Register — close the May register cleanly with auto-greyed holiday columns

For the parent-broadcast piece:

• Student Information Management — schedule the closure WhatsApp blast from a single parent list
• Student Leave Applications — auto-park leave requests filed during the break

Earlier in this thread:

• Heatwave forces school timing changes across India
• Chhattisgarh closes schools till June 15 amid heatwave