True to their tradition, the famed private schools of the State capital again displayed scant regard for the orders of district administration on Tuesday when they functioned as per their normal schedule. In view of the heat wave, the District Magistrate (DM) of Dehradun on Monday had ordered closure of all schools before 12 noon.
The DM had also asked the schools to pre-pone their summer vacations and declare the schools closed from May 18. The DM had asked the Chief Education Officers (CEO) to ensure that the orders reach every school. However, almost all schools of the city paid little heed of the order and functioned as per their routine.
This correspondent found that these schools functioned till 1.30 to 2.0 PM. Naresh Kumar a resident of Nehru colony said, “ My daughter is class II student of a famous school and the school bus drops her home at 2.45 PM. On Tuesday also she came home at the same time’’.
Manish Rawat of Raipur road said that it is very difficult to even stand in open for some time during day time due to scorching heat and it is a pity that the private school owners show such coldhearted approach for the little kids.
When contacted the administrator of Brightlands school, Colonel B K Kapoor (Rtd) accepted that the school closed at 1.20 PM on Tuesday. He said that the school had information about the orders of DM but pointed out that closing the school without informing parents could have caused problems for the parents and students. He claimed that the school would be closed before 12 noon from Wednesday. A similar explanation was given by the Vice Principal of Doon International School (DIS), Dinesh Barathwal. This school also closed on its normal time which is well past 1PM. Barthwal however added that the summer vacations in the school would start from Wednesday.
The CEO of Dehradun, SP Khali said that all the schools have been informed about the order of DM. He claimed that the schools not following the orders would be served notices. Khali added that the DM has given relaxation to the schools affiliated by the CBSE and ICSE boards on summer vacations. The CBSE and ICSE mandate that the summer vacations should be of not be more than 59 days. He however added that the schools should and must close before 12 noon to prevent children from heat wave like conditions.
Past experience shows that these schools show no respect for government orders or public sentiments and dictate their own terms. Similar attitude was displayed by their managements when the orders regarding winter timing and dress code to be adopted during dengue outbreak were issued by the competent authorities.