KOCHI: Despite heavy rain since last night and Thursday morning, Ernakulam District Collector Renu Raj's delay in declaring holidays for schools and colleges drew criticism from several quarters, especially from parents.
Around 8.30 am when the collector announced a school and college holiday on her official Facebook page, the students were already dropped off at the schools. Some schools have already begun their classes much before the district collector declared the holiday. The declaration has left many school students, teachers, and parents in confusion and worry.
"The delayed order has not just left the parents in confusion but also left them in great stress. My kids' classes started early in the morning, and they left around 7 a.m. It was around 9 am when we came to know that the district collector had declared a holiday for the schools and colleges. Since I am working a bit away from home, it took some time for me to get home. However, I later learned that the school had decided to stay open until the afternoon. We are not living in the 90s. We have systems to predict the intensity of rain much before it. This type of confusion should be avoided in the future, "said Sindhu, a Palarivattom resident.
The Ernakulam district collector's page is flooded with comments, which are mostly against the decision of the collector. "I am an IT employee who has been working from home for the past three years. For the last two years, our children have been studying in online classes. This facility is for us to use in such a situation. If the schools declare an online class for a week, the class will not be interrupted, and there is no risk of travel. Why are we still not thinking outside of the box? I don't blame the teachers; they are still in the old century. But the collector should think about it and give the necessary instructions, "commented a parent on the district collector's page."
"It is really sad that the collector did not declare a holiday even though there has been heavy rain since last night. At least the authorities should consider the kids who are studying in LKG, UKG, and play schools," wrote Arun Kakkanad on Facebook.
The sudden order also left some school authorities on tenterhooks as they were clueless as to whether to continue the class till evening or suspend the class. "Schools in Ernakulam District mostly start classes by 8 or 8.30 am. School buses ply and collect students from 6.00 am onwards. Parents generally drop them off at the bus stop and go to their offices, so dropping them back by a school bus is not practical. In this situation, we have asked parents if they could return the children, otherwise, we will keep them on campus until the normal time. These notifications should have been announced by 7 am. The district collector's act also invited some trolls on social media," said Indira Rajan, Secretary General, National Council of CBSE schools.
Meanwhile, the collector said the holiday was declared to avoid accidents as the rain that started at night is still continuing. "Schools that have already started functioning can continue. The students who have reached the schools should not be sent back," Collector said in a Facebook post an hour after declaring the holiday.