Jalandhar: Primary students attending school in evening shift!

Jalandhar, May 12

Parents of students studying in Government Primary School, Model House, have alleged that despite the orders of the Education Department pertaining to double shift timings and their repeated requests to school authorities, the school was being run in the evening shift.

They said the school starts at 12 noon when the heatwave is at its peak. “We have written an application requesting a change in the timings of schools for primary wing students to morning shift considering the extreme weather,” parents said.

In a letter, procured by Jalandhar Tribune, the parents mentioned that the school already follows double shift timings. Students of senior secondary wing study during the morning shift while the students of primary wing (aged between 3 and 12 years) study in the afternoon shift.

Parents bemoan the conditions of their children (students of primary wing) because they have to go to school in blazing heat. One of the parents, Vicky Kumar, who is a rickshaw-puller, said: “I face innumerable problems while dropping my children to the school in such a hot climate. I don’t own a car. I have to take the children on my rickshaw. Many a times, they fall sick due to the hot weather. The school authorities are not paying heed to our requests.”

Santosh Kumar, another parent, also spoke in a similar vein. He said: “My wife accompanies my child to school during peak hours. However, I drop my daughter who studies in the senior wing of the school. The school authorities need to understand that it is not only the children that suffer, but the parents are also suffering.”

Contrary to the allegations levelled by the parents of the students studying in the primary wing of the school, Principal Perminder Flora says: “The government circular purely suggests need-based application of double shift timings and it is not mandatory to change the timings as per the order.” She also pointed out that since last over decades the school is running in two shifts i.e secondary students in the morning for and primary students in afternoon, that too with the consent of parents.

She further said: “If the students of the senior secondary wing are shifted to the evening time, it will hamper their work as most of them are working or lending a helping hand to their parents. It will then lead to decrease in the number of senior secondary students in the school if their timings are altered.”