Parents in Hyderabad argued to postpone the school re-opening

Parents in Hyderabad argued to postpone the school re-opening

The Hyderabad School Parents Association (HSPA) is demanding that re-opening of the schools should be postponed to mid-June. Their demand comes a day after the school education department’s decision to run half-day schools from June 4-8. The association also submitted a letter raising their concerns to Adhar Sinha, Telangana commissioner and director of school education department. The maximum temperature in Telangana is around 40-degree Celsius and parents argued that this can affect the health of the children severely. “We understand that this yearʼs decision to reopen school on June 1 is taken to celebrate the Telangana state formation day. We very much respect the sentiment of the state formation and are much happy to celebrate but not at the expense of the health of lakhs of school going children (sic),” reads the letter. Balala Hakula Sangam (BHS), a child’s right group also demanded that state should withdraw its memo. In the memo, the state stated that schools will run from 7 am to 11 am. “It is impractical to expect a child to wake up at 5 am in order to reach school by 7 am. The department should have taken a rational decision which will not have any effect on the studentsʼ health,” said Achyutha Rao, honorary president of BHS.