Schools close to metro don’t fret about riders

NEW DELHI: There were mixed reactions from

schools

and parents over the non-exemption of buses ferrying schoolchildren during the odd-even road rationing. Schools with metro connectivity said that the non-exemption would not affect them. However, schools that did not have buses of their own said that it would be difficult for students to reach the school, and this, in turn, would hinder the completion of syllabus.

Many parents slammed the odd-even policy, citing NGT’s comment that it had not helped improve Delhi’s air quality in the past.

“Most of the children come by CNG buses and, therefore, transport may not be impacted. Moreover, we are on the metro line and the majority of the staff uses that. Attendance was not affected during the odd-even days earlier. Also, a number of people have since converted their cars for hybrid use and so it should not be a problem if there is no exemption,” said Ameeta Mulla Wattal, principal of Sprindales School, Pusa Road.

But not all city schools are on the same page. Many of them do not have their own bus service and a number of their staff and students use personal vehicles to commute. “Some of our employees travel from Dwarka and Noida. The 8am - 8pm timings are not suitable and it will be difficult for them to cope without the exemption,” said Tania Joshi, principal of The Indian School. “Parents pick up their wards in their personal cars and the non-exemption will impact their attendance. We have already shut the school because of the smog. When will we complete the syllabus? NGT also said that odd-even doesn’t have any significant impact on air quality, so what is the point of implementing the scheme?”

Meanwhile, there are some schools that are confident that past experiences will help them cope, whether with or without the exemption, as the policy limiting student intake to areas neighbouring the school would come in handy.

“ Parents will need to pool cars like they did earlier. Other employees too need to pool cars. For Class X and XII students, we would request parents to make arrangements and help each other,” said Ameeta Mohan, principal of Amity International, Pushp Vihar.

A number of parents are, however, miffed at the introduction of the odd-even policy when the air quality has started improving. “Odd-even won’t improve the quality of air. All it did was help in decongestion of roads. The government has not increased bus service or improved the public transport system. Odd-even scheme will just benefit cab aggregators,” muttered Prakash Sharma, a parent.