At 7 am, these kids reach school amid nail-biting chill
Sameer Singh
Tribune News Service
Bathinda, December 22
Students of Government Adarsh Senior Secondary School have been reaching the school to attend classes at 7 am amid bone-chilling cold.
Students from the pre-primary wing commute from far-off villages in the morning. Parents said dropping their kids at the school in the dark (some of them leave their house as early as 5:30 am) coupled with fog is a herculean task.
The temperature in the region has already fallen below the normal range in the past few weeks, but the school timings in the districts have not been changed. As a result, students and their parents have to bear the brunt.
Besides, students of Government Primary School, Sanjay Nagar, have also been reaching the school at 7 am. The government school at Parasram Nagar has changed timings to 7:30 am.
Notably, the Adarsh school here saw almost three-fold increase in the number of students taking admissions this year. Their number has increased from 600 to more than 1,700 this year. As a result, the school authorities have been finding it difficult to accommodate them due to a shortage of classrooms .
Talking to Bathinda Tribune, Gursewak Singh (name changed) from Jaisinghwala village, whose son studies in the Adarsh school, said, “My son has to wake up 5 am in the morning to reach the school on a daily basis. It is hardly anything visible on the road in the morning due to fog. My younger brother drops my son on his two-wheeler by covering a distance of around 16 km.”
Another parent of a student said, “When an adult does not dare to come out in bone-chilling cold and when there is dark outside, my daughter has to commute on an auto-rickshaw. It is insanely unsafe. With almost zero visibility due to fog and dark in the early morning, many students, including my daughter, are vulnerable to an accident. I wonder how the authorities have simply chosen to remain silent on the issue. We request the administration to issue directions to change school timings.”
Deputy Commissioner B Srinivasan said, “Directions have been issued for change in school timings on Sunday. These will be effective from Monday onwards.”
