Toxic air: Delhi schools limit activities, Noida goes online

For now, schools in Delhi in their own capacity have curtailed outdoor physical activity and enforced the usage of N95 masks among students. A few schools have also switched to online classes.

With Delhi’s air quality index (AQI) just a notch short of entering the “severe plus” category and the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) on Thursday ordering stringent measures under stage 4 of the graded response action plan (Grap) in Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR), the state governments of Delhi, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh are still mulling the closure of schools until the air quality improves.

New Delhi: Students wait outside their school on a road engulfed in smog, at Kasturba Nagar in New Delhi, Thursday, Nov. 3, 2022. Delhi's air quality continued to be in the 'severe' category on Thursday, according to Central Pollution Control Board data. (PTI Photo/Pinaki Prem Sen)(PTI11_03_2022_000038B) (PTI)

For now, schools in Delhi in their own capacity have curtailed outdoor physical activity and enforced the usage of N95 masks among students. A few schools have also switched to online classes.

The AQI in Delhi on Thursday was 450.

In neighbouring Noida, the Gautam Budh Nagar administration has ordered that only online classes be held up to class 8 for all boards until November 8. It has also asked schools to curtail the outdoor activities of senior students and to stop in-person classes for them as well if possible.

“All schools have been asked to stay shut up to grade 8, but we are urging schools to stop physical classes for senior students as well. We have also ensured more water sprinkling, shutting of industries and stopping of all construction activities,” said Ritu Maheshwari, the CEO of Noida authority, who is handling additional charge as the district magistrate of Gautam Budh Nagar.

Haryana, meanwhile, is yet to decide on whether to shut schools in Gurugram and Faridabad.

Nishant Kumar Yadav, deputy commissioner, Gurugram, said they will take a decision on schools on Friday after a meeting in Faridabad with the pollution control board officials. “We are aware of the rising pollution level and we will enforce guidelines under stage 4 of Grap after a meeting with the pollution control board and Haryana chief minister on Friday,” he said.

Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Thursday said they will decide on measures under stage 4 after a seminar in Faridabad that has been organised by the pollution control board. “We will implement the required guidelines in Gurugram and Faridabad districts,” he said.

In Delhi, Sudha Acharya, chairperson of the National Progressive School Conference (NPSC) — which has more than 120 Delhi schools as its members, including Sardar Patel Vidyalaya, Delhi Public Schools and Amity International School —and principal of ITL School, Dwarka, said the school had stopped all outdoor and physical activity for students since the past few weeks. “We are not holding outdoor activities. All physical activities of students have been moved to the indoor gymnasium. We are ensuring that students wear masks properly. We have recommended that they wear N95 masks and not the cotton ones,” said Acharya.

She said several parents are not in favour of a closure of schools due to the omnipresent nature of pollution. “Not all houses have air purifiers. The air quality is bad almost everywhere, even within homes. Since both parents are working these days, they prefer that children continue to go to school which is a much safer space,” said Acharya.

Bharat Arora, president of the Action Committee of Private Unaided Schools, a consortium of private schools, said his school had stopped all outdoor and physical activity in view of the high pollution levels.

Arora added that parents should be consulted before any decision pertaining to school closure is taken. “We need to find a common ground since closure might not be the best solution for all stakeholders,” said Arora.

Mornings are the hours when the lowest of temperatures are recorded and the colder, heavier air settles closer to the ground -- in later hours, the heat from the sunrays help set off convection currents, taking trapped pollutants higher in the sky.

Dr Rakesh Bagdi, paediatrician at Delhi’s Kalawati Saran Children’ Hospital, said: “The problem is that pollution levels are at their peak in the morning when the children have to head for school. We are already seeing a spike in cases of infants whose pre-existing respiratory conditions have worsened.”

While most schools said that they are awaiting directions from the Delhi government, they also added that online classes would continue, if schools were to shut down.

Richa Sharma Agnihotri, principal, Sanskriti School, said her school already had air purifiers in classrooms and would stop all outdoor activities. The school has advised children with respiratory problems to take extra care and precaution. “We are waiting for the Delhi government’s decision right now. Even if they were to decide to stop in-person classes, online classes will continue. It will not be difficult for us to switch to online classes within a day’s notice. The health of children is most important. At the same time, learning will not suffer,” said Agnihotri.