New Delhi, Feb 15 (IANS) To overcome traffic congestion during the Commonwealth Games, schools in the national capital will remain closed during the mega sporting event, Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit said Monday.

The Delhi government sent an advisory to Delhi schools, both government and private, to reschedule school holidays for the academic year 2010-11 keeping in view the Commonwealth Games being organised Oct 3-14.

'For smooth hosting of Commonwealth games and to avoid traffic congestion, it has been decided to extend the autumn break from eight to 17 days while summer vacations have been reduced from 61 days to 49 days,' Dikshit told reporters here.

The autumn break will be from Oct 1 to 17.

'The rescheduling of the breaks will not affect the working hours of schools as working days in 2010-11 would be 218 compared to 215 in 2009-10,' she said.