Delhi schools set to reopen, but classes to begin after 9am

Schools in Delhi are set to reopen on Monday and resume in-person classes even as the Directorate of Education (DoE) has said no school will start before 9am due to the prevailing dense fog.

Last week, the Delhi government announced that all primary classes — Nursery to Class 5 — will remain shut for another five days, till January 12. As January 13 and 14 were Saturday and Sunday, the order effectively meant that most primary schools in the Capital remained closed over the last week.

The order regarding the reopening of school for all classes, which has been signed by the deputy director of education (School), Dr Anita Vats, said that in continuation of the order dated January 7, it is directed that all students of government, government aided and recognised private schools shall rejoin classes in person with effect from Monday (January 15).

“This includes nursery, kindergarten and primary classes as well. However, taking a precaution in view of prevailing foggy conditions, no school (including the double shift schools) will start before 9am and have classes beyond 5pm till further directions,” the order said.

The official order directed all teaching and non-teaching staff to report for their duties as usual. “The head of schools must inform all students, parents and staff today itself through mass SMS facilities, phone calls and school management committees,” it added.

Delhi recorded dense fog for nearly 11 hours, from midnight onwards, keeping the city firmly in the grip of a cold wave. There was zero visibility at Palam from 5am to 10am — over 100 flights were delayed while nine were diverted to Jaipur. Around 22 trains were also delayed by at least an hour and an orange alert has been issued by the India Meteorological Department for the next two days cold wave conditions..

Kuldeep Khatri, who heads the municipal teachers union Shikshak Nyay Manch Nagar Nigam said that the temperatures in the city continue to remain very low and the neighboring states have issued orders regarding the extension of the winter break but Delhi has instead decided to resume in-person classes.

“The government should consider the health impact of cold wave conditions on school students and teachers. The winter break should have been extended,” Khatri said.

Meanwhile, an official from Delhi government, asking not to be named, said that it was mandatory to have 220 days of school per session, so schools need to restart the classes as they already lost a few days during the pollution season. Earlier, the government announced an early winter break from November 9 to 18 amid severe air pollution. The remaining portion of the winter vacation was observed from January 1 to January 6.

After the Delhi government circular, the education department of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) also issued an order saying that the extended winter break has concluded and classes will resume from Monday. To meet the timing restrictions, MCD has decided to run its general shift from 9am to 1pm, morning shift between 9am to 12.30pm and evening shift from 1pm to 5pm.

Satya Prakash, Delhi president of the All India Parents’ Association, said they do not object to the reopening of schools but the government must ensure the preparations at its end. “The government must ensure that the infrastructure on its end is optimum, windows of government schools are not broken, subsidies for uniforms are distributed timely and teachers are present,” he said.

Aparajita Gautam, the head of Delhi Parents’ Association said that they initially demanded the extension of the winter break but the pending syllabus also needs to be completed. “Schools cannot remain closed perpetually but the government can reconsider the decision about the primary classes,” she said.