Some primary and secondary schools in Chongqing and Sichuan province in southwestern China and Nanchang in Jiangxi province have delayed the start of the autumn semester due to ongoing heat waves.

In Nanchang, many parents of primary school students received notifications on Sunday informing them that the new semester would be postponed by one week because of the extreme temperatures, China National Radio reported.

The city's education bureau said schools in four districts — Honggutan, Xihu, Donghu and Qingyunpu — have delayed the start of the autumn semester to Monday.

Jiangxi's meteorological service center has forecast that maximum temperatures in northern, southern and central parts of the province will range between 35 C and 38 C over the next three days.

Education authorities in several cities in Sichuan, including Zigong, Leshan, Nanchong, Suining, Luzhou, Ziyang and Dazhou, have also postponed the start of the semester for primary and secondary schools due to sustained high temperatures. Most of the schools will now start classes on Monday, about a week later than originally planned.

In Chongqing, all districts and counties issued notices on Aug 28 delaying the start of the fall semester for primary and secondary schools and kindergartens until Monday.

The notices emphasized that the decision was made to ensure the safety and health of teachers and students amid the extreme heat.

Sichuan and Chongqing have been experiencing an unusual heat wave in recent days, with temperatures in some areas exceeding 40 C.Chongqing, often referred to as China's "furnace city" due to its sweltering summers, was under a red alert for high temperatures for 12 consecutive days from Aug 21 to Sept 1.

A red alert, the highest level in China's three-tier high-temperature warning system, is issued when temperatures are forecast to exceed 40 C within 24 hours.

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