School in blinding fog puts children at risk

NEW DELHI: Thick fog and bitter morning cold may have thrown services in the capital out of gear, but children studying in many top private schools are still expected to brave the conditions and attend classes. That's because these schools, going by last year's experience when the chill set in later in the season, had decided to shift the winter break to the first week of January.
With heavy fog enveloping the city for three straight days, many parents are now voicing concern about sending children out in low visibility and cold conditions.
"At 7am today, the fog was so thick that we couldn't see across the road. I drove at 20kmph with fog lights on while dropping my son to school. It is really dangerous if we have to do it every day. I may ask him to skip school if the fog continues," said Sanjeev Raj, who sends his child to a school in Vikaspuri, echoing the sentiments of many parents.
Though government schools shut for the winter break on Saturday and will reopen only on January 9, many private schools plan to break from January 1. These include DPS R K Puram, Tagore International and Salwan Public School, among others. According to some schools, they have to continue classes to make up for the loss caused by the Commonwealth Games.
D R Saini, principal, DPS R K Puram, said, "December 30 is our last working day but we will close early if our management decides or the government issues a direction. We had to keep our classes going as we have to complete our teaching days. We have already had a lot of holidays due to the Games and other things. The school will be closed till January 7."
Schools usually take their winter break from December 25 till the first week of January. But due to intense cold spells in January and February, when government directs schools to close down early or to extend the vacations, many schools have pushed the winter break to a week later.
"Our school will remain open till December 31 as the winter break has been extended till the second week of January. We have changed the dates this year keeping in mind foggy conditions in the previous years," said Suman Nath, principal, Tagore International School, East of Kailash.
The schools which have already closed, may consider changing school timings when they reopen if the cold and foggy conditions persist. "There have been too many breaks this year. Our school will reopen on Janaury 6 though we will look into changing the timings," said Manika Sharma, principal, The Shri Ram School, Vasant Vihar. Some other schools may also decide to extend the vacations for junior classes.
Usha Ram, principal, Laxman Public School, Hauz Khas said that junior sections may be allowed to resume school later though the schedule for the senior classes may remain the same. Ameeta Mulla Wattal, principal, Springdales School, Pusa Road, added, "We are reopening on January 5. We will see how the weather goes. If similar conditions persist, we may change the timings for junior classes."
All branches of Amity School have already decided to extend the winter break for primary classes till January 10 while others will come back after vacations on January 3.