“Undoubtedly priority is education of children and there is no compromise on this count but it is also a fact education of children comes next to their health safety.”
Heat wave has touched new heights in Kashmir and decreasing tolerance levels among school children necessitate immediate call on summer vacation for a short period of 15 days which otherwise also is a routine practice in Kashmir. Experiences have shown that children of 5-16 years age group are more vulnerable to physical instability during heat waves than the students of higher age groups. Meteorological department predicting light rains and drop in temperature for a few days can’t be cited a reason for deferring the announcement of summer vacations by School Education Department. It is not only matter of vacation for schools but a concern about the health safety of children in intense heat wave periods in Kashmir like many states and union territories of the country. Undoubtedly priority is education of children and there is no compromise on this count but it is also a fact education of children comes next to their health safety. Since the heat wave is bound to further intensity in the hottest periods of July and August, the School and Higher Education Departments justifying deferment of short summer break for schools and colleges is not advisable. Experiences of decades have shown that children in the age group of 5-16 years don’t withstand the stress of intense heat waves in class rooms as most of them show signs of fatigue and drowsiness due to which rampant absenteeism is noticed more in Government and less in private schools. While some private schools in Srinagar and major towns of Kashmir Valley maintain regularity in classes due to availability of coolers in classes during peak summer months, the rampant absenteeism brings class work on collapsing mode in most of the Government schools due to non availability of coolers .
“An immediate call over immediate announcement of summer break is as good a compulsion for punctuality of students in schools as it is for their health safety during intense heat wave periods across Kashmir. Above all the growing public concerns of people over the travel of children of the age groups of 5-16 years to schools and their attendance in classes deserve and demand immediate attention of the higher authorities of school education department. During the summer break the school children can avail the facility of online classes and parents would also find it convenient to take care of the health during the vacations.”
While private schools follow certain practices and procedures to enforce punctuality of students in classes, the Government schools don’t have established a strong system to maintain punctuality of students in classes. In such a situation the deferment of the summer vacation is a disadvantage for Government schools but not private schools and as such the summer vacation is a bigger compulsion for Government schools than the well equipped private schools. Henceforth an immediate call over immediate announcement of summer break is as good a compulsion for punctuality of students in schools as it is for their health safety during intense heat wave periods across Kashmir. Above all the growing public concerns of people over the travel of children of the age groups of 5-16 years to schools and their attendance in classes deserve and demand immediate attention of the higher authorities of school education department. During the summer break the school children can avail the facility of online classes and parents would also find it convenient to take care of the health during the vacations.
