Majlis Rejects Winter School Break Proposal

The Majlis on Tuesday rejected an article in the Clean Air Bill that proposed a two-week school break in winter to protect children from air pollution and help promote domestic tourism.

A weather phenomenon known as temperature inversion in winter results in heavy smog and a sharp drop in air quality, a problem afflicting Tehran and other major cities for years.

To mitigate its impact on children, which are vulnerable to poor air quality, the government proposed the introduction of school breaks in winter, a move welcomed by environment and tourism officials who argued that it would be a "short-term" fix that could also help domestic tourism.

However, lawmakers, who have been deliberating on the Clean Air Bill for weeks, rejected the proposal, which also called for a reduced summer break to make up for the winter closure of schools.

"This is never going to be an effective solution," Ramin Ezzati, an assistant professor at Kharazmi University's Faculty of Biological Sciences, told ISNA.

Ezzati argued that the winter school break could have an adverse effect on the quality of education, although Education Minister Fakhreddin Ahmadi Danesh-Ashtiani is a proponent of the proposal.

Iran has 125 days of school holidays per year, which is said to be more than any other country. Turkey is second with 120 days while the UK is third with 100 days. Germany and Canada are joint fourth with 90 days and Japan is fifth with 80 days.