The change in school timings ordered by the School Education Department has evoked widespread criticism, with parents and civil society saying the department of education was torturing students only for ensuring a hassle-free traffic for bureaucrats.
The Directorate of School Education Kashmir (DSEK) on Monday ordered that schools within the municipal limits of Srinagar would operate from 8.30 am to 2.30 pm and the schools outside Srinagar municipal limits and other areas will be functional from 9.30am to 3.30pm from 1 May 2019.The timings were changed a week ahead of the Durbar Move from Jammu to Srinagar. The civil secretariat offices are scheduled to resume work from May 6 here.
“New timings are only meant for smooth travel of bureaucrats. Why can’t offices start before 9 am?” asked Muhammad Abbas, a parent from Soura, Srinagar.
The parents said the change in school timings will tell upon the health of the students and will prove detrimental for them in the longer run. “It will be hectic to prepare kids for schools so early,” Abbas said.
Another parent, Ashiq Hussain, from Baghaat area of Srinagar said the timings would be especially “cruel” for kindergarten children.
An estimated 80 per cent of the students are ferried in buses and vans to and from schools.
“As per the new school timing, kids are supposed to wake up at 5:30 am and reach their bus stop around 6:30 am. This will wreck their sleep and health,” said Muhammad Akram, whose kid studies in LKG at a school 10kms away from his residence.
It takes more than two hours for some buses to pick and drop kids to school and home.
Meanwhile, the Private Schools’ Association of Jammu and Kashmir (PSA&K) has also expressed its resentment over the change in the school timing, especially for primary classes.
“How can we expect our kids to grow up well when they will have to face this torture every day along with their parents,” said Chairman PSAJK GN Var.
Var termed the new school timing a “crackdown on the students” and said the early morning timing was suitable for only hot climate zones.
“We live in temperate region but the government is adamant to ensure smooth travel of bureaucrats at the cost of health of students,” he said.
Var also said the department has changed the school timing without taking on board the stakeholders.
“Earlier, it was agreed with concerned departments that any change in school timing will be done after consultation with private schools’ association and parents, but they have unilaterally taken the harsh decision which is unacceptable,” Var said.
Director School Education Kashmir (DSEK) Muhammad Younis Malik said the school timing was changed keeping in view the previous practice of the department.
“The timing was changed from May 1 in previous years and I followed the same practice,” he said.
Last year, the school education department changed the school timing on May 15, fixing it from 9am to 3 pm for Srinagar schools.
