As weather conditions deteriorate in the national capital, Delhi, the Delhi government issued a circular instructing all schools to suspend outdoor activities till severe pollution condition persists. Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia stated that the government may order to shut the schools if the situation worsens.
The present air quality condition in Delhi is a cause of concern for all. To ensure that students studying in schools of Delhi are not adversely affected due to the current air quality, all the government –aided and unaided recognized schools under Directorate of Educated are hereby directed to sensitize the parents of the students about the worsening air quality situation prevailing in and across Delhi and further appeal them to restrain their children from undertaking outdoor activities till severe pollution persists,
read the circular from the Directorate of Education- School Branch.
Schools in Delhi-NCR have advised parents to send their children for classes wearing masks and shifting outdoor activities indoors in order to deal with pollution as the air quality continues to be in the ‘severe’ category. After schools had reopened on Wednesday after the Diwali break, a Gurgaon school principal said they had sent an advisory to parents on Monday to not send their children for classes without masks.
“When I woke up on Monday morning, I just knew that this is not going to be normal soon. We sent advisories to parents to mandatorily send their wards with masks,” said Nidhi Kapoor, Principal, Euro International School in Gurgaon.
According to a representative at St Mark’s Senior Secondary School, Janakpuri, “We have shifted the venue of morning assembly indoors and advised parents to send their wards wearing masks so whenever they are outdoors they have limited exposure to toxic air.”
Delhi, Noida, Gurugram, Noida, and Faridabad are reportedly again back to its annual encounter with extreme air-pollution post-Diwali. The pollution level in the capital is expected to rise in the coming days. On Wednesday, the pollution level became critical as the Air Quality Index (AQI) measured 606 micrograms per cubic meter.
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced on Wednesday that fifty lakh N95 masks would be given to students in both government and private schools in Delhi. A kit of a mask having two pieces of N95, one of the good quality masks for tackling smog, will be given to students. These marks will be distributed for one week.
