The Hindu : Front Page : Cold wave forces closure of schools in the Capital

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Wednesday, Jan 10, 2007
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Cold wave forces closure of schools in the Capital

Staff Reporter

Govt. order covers junior students up to Class V for three days

INSIDE DELHI: Some chill, some fog. The morning scene in the Capital on Tuesday. - PHOTO: V. V. KRISHNAN

NEW DELHI: To protect little children from the intense cold wave sweeping North India, the Delhi Government on Tuesday ordered closure of all Government-run and aided schools across the Capital for three days till Friday and issued an advisory to all private schools to follow suit. The directive would affect junior students up to Class V; the senior classes would function as usual.

Education Minister Arvinder Singh said the decision was taken keeping the interests of the little children in mind. ``The little ones will be saved from the extreme cold and it will also not affect the academic schedule since the junior schools do not have any tests. The senior schools will continue to function normally.''

The State Education Department has sent out specific directions to nearly 4,000 government schools across the city to remain closed for three days.

The order

The order will cover all schools run by the Delhi Government, the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi as well as the government-aided schools.

The majority of the private schools that have been issued the advisory also welcomed the decision.

The Principal of Delhi Public School Rohini, Rita Sen, said the decision would make no difference to the academic schedule as the senior classes would not be affected. ``Only the young ones would stand to benefit as they will get three more days to snuggle up in the comfort of their beds in the extreme cold.''

While Manav Sthali School at Rajendra Nagar will keep its primary classes closed as per the advisory, Ryan International in the trans-Yamuna area has decided to stay open. "We have proper classrooms for the children. The advisory is for schools that operate from tents,'' said Principal Sandhya Sabu.

The decision to close the schools came on another extremely cold day when the temperature in Delhi touched a low of 3.2 degrees Celsius, a good four degrees below normal.

Though this was comparatively warmer than Monday, when the Capital experienced the season's coldest day so far at 2.6 degrees -- the coldest day in six years barring January 8, 2006, when the temperature had reached almost freezing point and fallen to 0.2 degrees Celsius.

Though the weatherman has forecast that the minimum temperature would go up in the days to come and touch around 5 degrees Celsius on Wednesday, he has also forecast possibly foggy conditions over the next two days. The mercury may also rise as fresh western disturbances over the Himalayas are expected from Wednesday.

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