NEW DELHI: In a first, all municipal corporation-run schools will be shut on Saturday due to smog. The 1,747 schools teaching around 8.75 lakh students will be the only public institutions to be closed due to pollution this season.
Schools across the city are changing the way they function to protect children from the noxious smog. Although the air was clearer on Friday, some schools stayed closed. Others rescheduled sports and other outdoor activities. Some will decide whether to open on Sunday evening. South Corporation has postponed its second parent-teacher meeting next week, which was earlier scheduled on Saturday.
"The government orders us to close when it's too cold or too hot. Although ours is an air-conditioned school, we follow. This, too, is an extreme situation. We will check the levels on Sunday evening and take a call on whether to open on Monday," says Neena Kaul, principal, The Heritage School, Rohini. The school has a substantial number of children who are asthmatic and Kaul herself suffers from allergies. All Heritage Schools remained shut on Friday, as did Modern School, Barakhamba Road.
Those schools where classes were held, schedules have been changed and parents sent advisories. Springdales, Pusa Road, and Vasant Vihar's Tagore Internationalhave both suspended all sports coaching till conditions improve. The latter has suspended assemblies for the rest of the month. They'll decide on whether to resume in December. The municipal schools have been told to stop holding assemblies and outdoor activities too. Additionally, children who need medical assistance will get it. However, teachers don't get Saturday off.
"School is on but all outside activities have been cancelled. Attendance was good and some kids have come to school with masks. They are either asthmatic or were taking precautions," says Tania Joshi, principal, The Indian School.
Amity International School, Mayur Vihar, stopped all sports the day after Diwali, expecting poor air-quality. They organised activities for the smaller children in their auditorium. The school moves classes to the afternoon for the winter months in any case but this time principal Priyanka Mehta has told teachers and students to also look out for the sun. "If it is bright and sunny outside, go out. If it isn't, don't."
Schools across the city are changing the way they function to protect children from the noxious smog. Although the air was clearer on Friday, some schools stayed closed. Others rescheduled sports and other outdoor activities. Some will decide whether to open on Sunday evening. South Corporation has postponed its second parent-teacher meeting next week, which was earlier scheduled on Saturday.
"The government orders us to close when it's too cold or too hot. Although ours is an air-conditioned school, we follow. This, too, is an extreme situation. We will check the levels on Sunday evening and take a call on whether to open on Monday," says Neena Kaul, principal, The Heritage School, Rohini. The school has a substantial number of children who are asthmatic and Kaul herself suffers from allergies. All Heritage Schools remained shut on Friday, as did Modern School, Barakhamba Road.
Those schools where classes were held, schedules have been changed and parents sent advisories. Springdales, Pusa Road, and Vasant Vihar's Tagore Internationalhave both suspended all sports coaching till conditions improve. The latter has suspended assemblies for the rest of the month. They'll decide on whether to resume in December. The municipal schools have been told to stop holding assemblies and outdoor activities too. Additionally, children who need medical assistance will get it. However, teachers don't get Saturday off.
"School is on but all outside activities have been cancelled. Attendance was good and some kids have come to school with masks. They are either asthmatic or were taking precautions," says Tania Joshi, principal, The Indian School.
Amity International School, Mayur Vihar, stopped all sports the day after Diwali, expecting poor air-quality. They organised activities for the smaller children in their auditorium. The school moves classes to the afternoon for the winter months in any case but this time principal Priyanka Mehta has told teachers and students to also look out for the sun. "If it is bright and sunny outside, go out. If it isn't, don't."
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