Schools continue classes, parents in a fix

A day after the Delhi government ordered all primary schools to shut down due to severe pollution, parents of children studying at the branches of DAV Public school were in a fix since they did not receive any notification about classes being suspended on Wednesday.

Hassled parents waited for an email or SMS from the school until Tuesday night. "I had to send my seven-year-old son to school as no notification was issued by the authority until Wednesday morning," said a parent of a Class II student at DAV Public School, Jasola Vihar.

Several parents also raised the issue with Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on social networking sites. "Even after the government's order, DAV Public school, Janakpuri remained open on Wednesday. I'm concerned about my child's health. Plz do something," tweeted a parent of a nursery student. There are around 30 branches of DAV school across the city.

When contacted the Jasola Vihar Branch, officials claimed that they could not suspend the classes as they did not receive any notice from DAV's management committee. "We can't make any announcement until we receive instructions from the head office. 
Also, there were exams in some classes and we can't re-schedule them at this short level," the official said.

However, officials at DAV primary school, Daryaganj, claimed that only a handful of students turned up in primary classes. "The strength of students in primary classes was very less. We did not conduct normal classes. Only indoor activities were organised for students," an official said.

According to Dr Nisha Peshin, Director of Public Schools, DAV, the head office had received the orders late on Tuesday.