BMTC strike: Confusion gave parents tough time

With Bangaloreans already facing a tough time because of the BMTC strike, confusion in schools over declaring a holiday increased problems of parents in the city.

On day two of the strike, there was confusion in some schools and colleges. At Cathedral High School it was a signboard declaring holiday which created confusion among parents and school van drivers. According to a parent whose child studies in the school the confusion began when the van did not turn up. “

When I called up the van driver, he said that on the first trip to the school, a board on the gate said that it was a holiday. Then I decided to drop my son. When we went, the board was kept aside and students were getting into the school,” said the parent.

“When we went, we were informed that the school decided to go ahead with classes as many students eventually turned up. But they said that they would inform us in a while whether classes would be held or not,” said the parent. At 10 am, the parent received another call that the classes have been called off.

However, according to the school principal, Isabella Simon, the school could not officially declare a holiday because it would have been supporting the strike.

“We had told parents that if they find it inconvenient then the child could stay back home. However, when children were dropped off at school in the morning, we did not want to send them back,” she said.

While the board read that that it was a holiday, the principal said that it was only for the attached college. Only around 100 students attended the school on Friday. By afternoon, only 35 students were there.

At Vivekananda PU College,near Yeshwantpur, teachers were more worried about finishing the syllabus. “With the syllabus having been upgraded to the CBSE level, the portions will take two academic years to complete. In that, having to complete it in a short duration and having so many unexpected days off is really harrowing,” said Nagarajappa T, faculty from the college.

The primary section at Vidya Niketan School was shut. A high school student from the school said that they were supposed to be informed if the school would work on Friday. “We were told that we would receive an SMS, however since we didn’t hear from the school we decided to stay back. None of my classmates went to school,” said the student.

Bishop Cotton Girls’ School declared a holiday partly because it was a bus strike and also because mid-term exams are scheduled to start on Monday.