NAGAPATTINAM: The district administration’s announcement to let school headmasters take a call on declaring holiday in view of the heavy rains received flak from parents as many students found it difficult to commute and several were stuck on the way.
Early morning on Wednesday, parents across Nagapattinam district were glued to televisions, radios and social media, waiting for an announcement on school holiday as it began to pour heavily. However, school headmasters and headmistresses were directed by the district administration and school education department to decide on their own to hold classes or not based on local weather conditions.
As the announcement came very late, many schools in the district did not declare a holiday. As a result, many students went to school in the rain. Those who rode bicycles struggled the most on Wednesday. P Aiyyappan, a parent of two children who study in Panchayat Union Primary School in Aadhanur in Vedaranyam block, said, “We waited almost till 9 am for an announcement from the school to declare a holiday.
We sent them reluctantly to school as we did not receive any update. Then, we brought them home late afternoon after heavy rains.” Pon Ravichandran, the president of Panchayat Union Primary School in Vanduvancheri in Vedaranyam block, said, “Our children peddled their way to and from school amid rains. They came back drenched and their notebooks are still wet.
Surely, we expected better judgment from the district administration.” Nagapattinam district received 70 cm of total rainfall (average 10 cm) from 8.30 am to 6 pm on Wednesday. Vedaranyam taluk received the most with a total rainfall of 33 cm (average 11 cm). Kodiyakarai rain gauge recorded the most with 16.3 cm, followed by Vedaranyam town with 11 cm.
K Balashanmugam, an educationist from Nagapattinam, said, “If the school headmasters and headmistresses are given the authority to take a call, then such a direction should come the previous night, and not at 9 am. If they announce a holiday after students arrive, it serves no purpose as the students would have been drenched already.” The chief educational officer was unavailable for a comment.