Late to school because of monster on road, m’am: Students told to give innovative reasons for being late due to traffic jams in Thane

The traffic snarls in Thane city have impacted the lives of several people; while regular commuters are irked constantly, students of Radcliffe School are busy looking for a ‘monster’ or a ‘dragon’ on the road; sometimes, it could be a ‘meteorite striking the earth’ as the reason for being late to school and evading punishment; this is an innovative concept undertaken by the school staff who have been hearing the same ‘traffic congestion’ as the reason for almost a fortnight when students reach the school late

Traffic snarls in Thane city have impacted the lives of several people. While regular commuters are irked constantly, students of Radcliffe School are busy looking for a ‘monster’ or a ‘dragon’ on the road. Sometimes, it could be a ‘meteorite striking the earth’ to be the reason for being late to school and evading punishment.

A school bus with students stuck in traffic near Cadbury Junction in Thane on Wednesday. City schools have given the students permission to come late due to the prevailing traffic jams. (PRAFUL GANGURDE/HT PHOTO)

This is an innovative concept undertaken by the school staff who have been hearing the same ‘traffic congestion’ as the reason for almost a fortnight when students reach the school late. The students have been told to come up with more creative excuses. This, the school staff claimed, was also to lighten the mood and teach them to deal with problems.

With the perennial traffic snarls in Thane city, schools have not only become flexible with timings but also are finding different ways to deal with them.

“We are trying to help students take the traffic issues in a positive way. Problems exist in society but students must learn to cope up with them and move ahead. We are encouraging them to take them on a lighter note,” said Supriti Katkar, principal, Radcliffe School, Thane.

Parents, teachers and school students are among the worst hit due to the constant congestion in the city.

Poonam Valunj has abandoned her four-wheeler and opted to pick up her son using her two-wheeler as it is easier to manoeuvre the traffic. “The route that usually takes 20 minutes now takes almost two hours. With the two-wheeler, I can manage to at least reach in 45 minutes. I only go to pick up my child from school. We have never experienced traffic snarls in the afternoon time but over the last fortnight, any time of the day, the traffic movement is very slow. With the four-wheeler, if one is stuck, there is no alternative way out. At least I can take a U-turn or opt for internal roads and reach home on a two-wheeler,” said Valunj, a Kalwa resident and whose son studies in Class 9 at Smt. Sulochanadevi Singhania School, Thane.

Meanwhile, some schools have started tracking the buses to inform parents in case of traffic jams. “We already have GPS-enabled school buses. We ensure that it is updated and parents are able to track the children’s location so that they are aware when the child is stuck in traffic. We only have certain buses that follow the congested route and hence ensure that the buses ferry the children much earlier,” said Simi Juneja, principal, DAV School, Thane.

Some schools along Ghodbunder Road have asked students coming from far to stay at home if there are heavy rains and traffic congestion. “We stay near Cadbury Junction and my child is in New Horizon Scholar’s School in Kavesar. Twice in the last 10 days, my child has missed school due to heavy rains and traffic congestion. We were stuck near Majiwada for almost an hour and could not find a way to return also. The school has permitted students to not attend school if there are heavy rains as they only make the traffic worse. On other days, we try to leave home almost two hours early to evade traffic and reach on time,” said Chandrika Iyer, 44, parent of a 12-year-old girl.

Schools have asked parents to not necessarily rely on school buses and drop the children using private vehicles, if needed. “We have asked parents to use their discretion and get children to school using either private mode of transport or rely on school buses as per their convenience. With the current traffic situation, we are not strict with reaching school on time. Our staff also often get stuck in traffic. So, we are flexible and give children the levy,” said Neelu Lamba, principal, Hiranandani Foundation School, Thane. Lamba travels daily from Navi Mumbai to Thane and has to leave much earlier than her schedule to be able to reach on time.