Schools got into the act after a student from a Juhu-Tara road institution tested positive for H1N1. While some schools are sending SMS alerts to parents asking them to keep children suffering from fever at home, others are organising parent-teacher workshops to create awareness. A few are even calling off freshers’ parties.

 GD Somani School, Cuffe Parade, has sent a BMC circulars to parents, with its in-house clinic monitoring students showing symptoms of viral fever.

Cathedral and John Connon School, Fort, is sending SMSes, asking parents to keep children suffering from fever, cold and cough at home. The school has also put information about swine flu and preventive measures on its website.

Green Lawns School, Worli, held a parent-teacher meeting on Friday and called doctors to make students aware about H1N1. The school is sending students suffering from fever home and calling up parents for updates. Gopal Sharma Memorial School, Powai, will conduct a medical check-up camp on Monday.

In Juhu, Rims International School called off its freshers’ party on Friday. The school had organised a check-up camp earlier this week for 200 students. The management will also decide if classes should be called off.

In Pune, Podar Jumbo Kids saw a dip in attendance by 40% across its eight branches. The school management has ordered special masks for staff members. Some parents have asked younger children to be sent in separate buses to avoid contact with older students because “kids have poor immune system”.

About the Juhu-Tara road school, Jayraj Thanekar, executive health officer, BMC, said: “When a student there tested positive (for H1N1), the school was fumigated. The principal was very co-operative.”


Education minister Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil said: “The ministry will be following the (Union) health ministry’s guidelines. [The ministry] asked us to shut schools in Pune for a week. But there is no such instruction for Mumbai schools yet.”