CHENNAI: A day after former President A P J Abdul Kalam passed away, many private schools in Chennai and across the State remained closed on Tuesday. All government schools were open as no official announcement about a holiday had been made, leading to confusion among children and parents early morning.
“My sister went for an early morning class and was told that the school was shut following Kalam’s death. We did not receive any official message,” said a student of Class XI studying in a private school in Nungambakkam in Chennai.
Parents of children studying in schools that held classes were angry and confused. They were misled by a few television channels, which mistakenly said that the government had announced a holiday for educational institutions, a senior government education official said.
There were a few parents who came to the DPI campus in the afternoon to complain against a few schools that were functioning. “I saw on TV last night that an official order had been passed. Despite that, how can the school conduct classes,” said a grandfather of a girl studying in a school in Egmore.
R Vishalakshi, president of Tamil Nadu Matriculation Schools Association, said that there was no common decision taken, but individually most schools had spontaneously decided to not have classes as a mark of respect to Kalam. “Due to the confusion, the attendance would have also been low. The safety of children was also a factor. The respect for Kalam, who is hugely popular among children, was also taken into consideration,” she said.