In view of intense cold wave, the East Singhbhum district administration on Sunday issued a circular to all Government and private schools for changing their timings and suspend classes for primary school children. The minimum temperature recorded in the city was 6.5 degrees.
East Singhbhum deputy commissioner Amit Kumar through the district education department asked all schools to suspend classes for primary school children while middle school and higher classes will start their day at 10 am and will get over by 2 pm as per the directive till Jan 15. Classes for nursery to class V across government and private school will remain suspended till Jan 10. Their classes from Jan 11 to Jan 15 will start from 10 am to 2 pm.
The directive also says that in case there is no other public notice, schools will start their day at 9 am and will get over by 3 pm starting Jan 16. All the schools have received the notice and have started informing the parents through notice boards and message alerts.
The district education officer (DEO), R.K. P Singh said that the department is trying their best to communicate the update to parents.
"Children were facing problems in attending classes, especially in morning shifts, as an intense cold wave condition is prevailing in the city. The guardians of the children were also requesting for this, therefore we decided to ask schools to close campuses for smaller children,” said an official.
“No doubt the change in timing earlier was a big relief to parents however the decision to close campus would also a welcome move.
The minimum temperature of the city is hovering around 5 to 8 degree Celsius. It was indeed tough to wake my daughter at 6 am and send her to school by 7 am. I think the decision will be great relief for us,’ said a parent.
The continued cold waves in and around the Steel city has largely affected the normal life. With minimum temperature hovering around 6 to 8 degree Celsius the district administration is taking precautionary measures to prevent casualties due to cold waves.
The district administration has announced distribution of blankets among the needy people in the district and has asked all the government and private hospitals to keep themselves ready for diagnosing the patients affected due to chilly weather.Though, officially there is no report of any casualty due to cold waves in the district, as yet.The city has been in the grip of a cold wave for last few days with the minimum temperature fluctuating between two and three degrees Celsius.The Steel city had registered its lowest temperature of 4.8 degree Celsius on December 24, 2004.