Vasan urges T.N. government to postpone reopening of schools
The Hindu
G.K. Vasan urges Tamil Nadu government to postpone school reopening by a week due to scorching heat.
Tamil Manila Congress (Moopanar) president G.K. Vasan on Friday, May 31, 2024 urged the Tamil Nadu government to postpone the reopening of schools by a week to protect students from the scorching heat.
In a statement, the Rajya Sabha member said several States in India have been witnessing scorching heat, with Delhi recording a maximum temperature of over 50 degree Celsius a few days ago. Similarly, the temperature in many parts of Tamil Nadu is also rising.
The Tamil Nadu School Education Department announced earlier that schools will reopen on June 6 after the summer holidays. By taking into account the prevailing heat wave-like conditions in many parts of Tamil Nadu, the State government should postpone the reopening of schools for a week to protect students from simmering heat. It should also ensure that all the schools in Tamil Nadu have proper and hygienic drinking water facilities, added Mr. Vasan.
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Several principals of government and private schools in Delhi on Tuesday said the Directorate of Education (DoE) circular from a day earlier, directing schools to conduct classes in ‘hybrid’ mode, had caused confusion regarding day-to-day operations as they did not know how many students would return to school from Wednesday and how would teachers instruct in two modes — online and in person — at once. The DoE circular on Monday had also stated that the option to “exercise online mode of education, wherever available, shall vest with the students and their guardians”. Several schoolteachers also expressed confusion regarding the DoE order. A government schoolteacher said he was unsure of how to cope with the resumption of physical classes, given that the order directing government offices to ensure that 50% of the employees work from home is still in place. On Monday, the Commission for Air Quality Management in the National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas (CAQM) had, on the orders of the Supreme Court, directed schools in Delhi-NCR to shift classes to the hybrid mode, following which the DoE had issued the circular. The court had urged the Centre’s pollution watchdog to consider restarting physical classes due to many students missing out on the mid-day meals and lacking the necessary means to attend classes online. The CAQM had, on November 20, asked schools in Delhi-NCR to shift to the online mode of teaching.