The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Staggering of school timings a way out?

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Aug 11, 2006

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Staggering of school timings a way out?

City Bureau

SAFETYONTHEROADS This will help decongest traffic near schools during peak hours

RUSH HOUR WAIT: School students and office-goers compete for space in a bus stop on Dr. Ambedkar College Road, Vyasarpadi. — PHOTO: V. GANESAN

CHENNAI : About eight years ago, the Sustainable Chennai Project coordinated by the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority, mooted the idea of staggering the opening/closing times of schools and offices across the city as a measure to decongest crowded areas.

Today, the idea deserves to be revived but in a changed context — that of making roads safer for children.

The SCP had then proposed that some schools would begin and end their working day earlier than normal to avoid overlap with the hours of other schools or offices in the area. The idea was to reduce the massing of people and vehicles at specified school zones during peak hours.

Eight years ago, it was tried out in Adyar area but failed due to many reasons, chiefly non cooperation from some of the stake holders.

School headmasters say there is a gross mismatch between the number of students and buses. This forces children and parents to opt for personalised transport and when all of them converge upon school zones within a small time span, traffic management and student safety are imperilled.

Add to this the problem of students travelling on bicycles, and other type of two wheelers, or in unsafe modes such as crowded autorickshaws or rickety vans. If schools work to different timings, the rush would certainly ease. Teachers say staggered timings can help children in areas such as T. Nagar or K.K. Nagar. Early in the day, truck traffic in higher on Inner Ring Road that cuts through Ashok Nagar and Anna Nagar. Traffic on this road has increased phenomenally after the Koyambedu mofussil bus terminal opened. Trucks and long distance buses clearly endanger students on this road during peak hours.

Anantharanjan Das, a former member and chief planner in the CMDA, says the concept of staggering of school hours, mooted in the late 90s, sought to combat congestion. "We then felt that instead of having hundreds of cars converging on Adyar area schools, we could have 20 buses ... making transport management better. But the transport corporation could not deliver its commitment."

Cultural and social issues

Also, there were cultural and social issues such as food habits, which differed among groups of children and teachers. They could not change such habits suddenly. B. Raghuveeran, a headmaster and a traffic warden attached to the TN Police Traffic Wardens Organisation, feels that a policy level initiative is necessary to ensure that students do not commute long distance to school but attend the nearest institution.

"Why should students travel five or 10 km to school? If schools are compelled to admit students from the locality, commuting will come down and roads turn safer. There is no place for one to argue that one school is better than a neighbourhood institution... ," he notes. Enquiries show that many schools are open to the idea of staggering school hours. In fact, a few schools have already implemented staggered timings. The School Education Department has given the option for schools to start anytime between 8 a.m and 9 a.m.

G. Neelakantan, principal, Sivaswami Kalalaya (Mylapore), said staggered timings were fine, but felt children with both parents working might find it difficult. "Incidentally, the two schools in our road have different timings. I have also requested parents to refrain from using the road for two way traffic," he said.

"We begin at 9 a.m. and other neighbouring schools start earlier or later. It has helped reduce traffic considerably," S.S.Nathan, principal, Bala Vidya Mandir, Adyar says. The school has different closing timings for their primary and secondary sections. Students of the two sections also use different gates for entry and exit.

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