Schools should follow uniform timings: Parents
With the academic session com mencing in schools, parents are a worried lot particularly about the school timings and availability of school buses. They say that the school timings are set early in the morning and students don’t even get enough time for breakfast or to catch their school buses which puts great hardship on them.
A mother of a school-going kid said that these days competition is very high and that can be seen in smaller classes too. “In order to make my daughter ready and catch her school bus at 7:45 in the morning I have start with her at 6 am,” she said.
Another mother of a school child said that it is very difficult for children of this generation to get proper sleep at night since there is always the tension of reaching school early in the morning. “My son’s school gate closes at 8 am and bus arrives at 7:30 am. So where is the time for bathing, breakfast, dressing and what else?” she questioned.
The problem is more acute among those students who are below 12 years. Parents of wards from within this age group said that the ‘ridiculous school timings’ and increased academic burden have made their wards deprived of games and has resulted in a tendency to sleep early which means less time for studies.
These parents said that with the different timings being followed in schools in the city it is really difficult not only for the students but also for the guardians to keep pace with time. “I hope the school authorities must realize that uniform school timing is needed so that there is ample time for the child to leave home comfortably. As of now there is a huge rush,” said a father of a school-going child, while adding that it also has a cascading effect on their health and education. He is echoed by a working mother who said that matters get worse when both the parents belong to the working class.
“We both are working and getting our son ready for school as early as 8 am is like preparing for a ‘war’ every morning,” she said.
These parents also said that due to indifferent school timing many school children are unable to utilize the school bus services being pressed into service by welfare societies and the police. “If the school timing remains uniform that there are many children who can utilize the bus service,” said a resident of Oakland. She is also echoed by residents of other localities in the city.
A resident of Rilbong said that as there are no school buses available in most of the city schools, barring a few, they are left with no other option but to hire local cabs on monthly basis. “The cabbies charge anything from Rs 2000 to Rs 3000 per month which is very high,” she said.
Meanwhile, these parents have urged that school timings should be made uniform so that there remains no problem with conveyance. “If the schools start at 9 am then the children won’t have any problem. Now what happens is that some school start at 9 am and others at 8:30 am and so the school buses do not take students of certain schools,” she said.
They also said that when government schools can start at 9:30 am or even 10 am than why can’t the other schools do the same.
Echoing her, a guardian said that if Community Welfare Societies in the city can start mortuary vans one after another than why they can’t start school buses. “I believe that the state government should make it mandatory for every school to run school buses to fetch their students. This will go a long way in curbing the traffic menace in the city since lots of private vehicles are being used for school duties,” she said.
(By Rajib Roy)