Schools in Delhi to stay shut till further orders, ban on trucks extended

New Delhi: Schools in Delhi will stay closed “until further orders”, the directorate of education said on Sunday in an official order, and added that online teaching-learning activities and CBSE board examinations will be conducted according to the guidelines issued earlier

Schools in Delhi will stay closed “until further orders”, the directorate of education said on Sunday in an official order, and added that online teaching-learning activities and CBSE board examinations will be conducted according to the guidelines issued earlier.

New Delhi, India - Nov. 21, 2021: Civil Defence personnel hold placards urging commuters to switch off their car engines during traffic stoppage at Tilak Marg on a hazy morning in New Delhi, India, on Sunday, November 21, 2021. (Photo by Arvind Yadav/ Hindustan Times)

The Delhi government on Sunday also extended the ban on the entry of trucks, except those carrying essential items till November 26. All Delhi government and affiliated offices will also continue to allow work from home, the directions said.

Senior officials of the Delhi environment department clarified that these orders have been extended based on the directions issued by the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) for Delhi-NCR and adjoining areas on November 16. However, Sunday’s orders will only apply to Delhi as fresh directions are yet to come from the CAQM.

On November 13, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal announced closure of schools for a week in view of the hazardous levels of air pollution, hours after the Supreme Court slammed the state and central governments and ordered them to take “emergent steps” to curb pollution.

A senior official of the union environment ministry said a review meeting for the CAQM directions for the NCR is scheduled for November 23. “Those directions that were meant to remain in force till November 21 will stop from today (Sunday). Rest will continue. We will review our directions this week,” the official said.

No clarity on construction

While fresh orders were issued for restrictions on truck movement and work from home for offices, there was no clarity on whether the construction ban in the city will also continue.

“The India Meteorological Department has informed us that the air quality is expected to remain in the poor to very poor category in the coming five days, so looking at the forecasts we have decided to extend the ban on entry of trucks into the Capital, and allowed work from home for Delhi government and affiliated offices till November 26. The proposal was sent to the Lieutenant Governor for approval, and we received the sanction on Sunday,” a senior environment department official said.

Uncertainty over schools continues

After CAQM’s Tuesday order, schools in Delhi have returned to online classes while uncertainty prevails over the resumption of regular in-person classes. Schools in the Capital were closed for physical classes on account of Covid-19 last March and allowed to reopen in a limited way for students of higher grades earlier this year. They finally reopened for all classes on November 1 but were shut again on November 13 on account of a spike in pollution.

Sudha Acharya, the chairperson of the National Progressive School Conference (NPSC) which has 122 Delhi schools as members, including Sardar Patel Vidyalaya, Bal Bharati Public School, Springdales School, Sanskriti School, Delhi Public Schools, Ahlcon International School, and Amity International School, said that schools had been thrust into uncertainty once again.

Acharya said parents had been calling the school and enquiring about the resumption of classes since many institutions outside Delhi were resuming classes from Monday. “We are getting a lot of queries from parents since we need to hold exams for students in classes 9 and 11. We don’t know how to conduct the exams at a time when schools have been closed abruptly without any clarity on reopening,” said Acharya, principal of ITL Public School, Dwarka.

Former NPSC chairperson Malini Narayanan, who is also the principal of Army Public School in Shankar Vihar, said parents were disappointed due to the closure of schools and one could not understand the reason behind the closure. “How is it that schools seem to be the cause of pollution all the time? Closure of schools is becoming the answer to every problem. Our parents and children are also disappointed,” said Narayanan.

Narayanan said that the closure had set back the school’s academic cycle and affected other services such as transport and canteen facilities. “We were geared up for the resumption of bus services and canteen facility. The school has incurred expenditure on these fronts but now we are unsure about the reopening which is unfortunate,” said Narayanan.

Anticipating closure due to cold-wave conditions in winter, she said the closure of schools was never-ending. “In January, schools are asked to shut down due to fog. Due to some reason or the other, the closure has schools seems to be getting extended,” said Narayanan.