It’s back to school for children in the plains (Roundup)

NEW DELHI - With the sun breaking through and the days getting warmer, it was back to school for children in the national capital and neighbouring states Monday, leaving the authorities and parents now worrying about making up for the lost working days.

After an extended winter vacation resulting from the persistant cold wave in the plains, children in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana, as also in Bihar Monday returned to school - with woollen gloves, caps, warm clothes et al.

Delhi schools were originally scheduled to reopen Jan 3 after the Christmas vacation. But as the winter turned harsher and chilly weather continued, the authrities extended the vacation till Jan 13.

It is now the lost working days that worry the authorities.

“We don’t know if their syllabus will be completed properly or rushed through before the exams,” said Ram Sen, the father of a Class 10 student.

“We are planning extra classes on Saturdays in January and February to cover the syllabus,” R.P. Mallik, chairman of the Federation of Public Schools, an umbrella organisation of 200 privately run schools in the capital, said.

In Uttar Pradesh, where the winter took a heavy toll with at least 128 lives lost, the bitter cold forced schools to close Jan 9. The schools resumed Monday and the classes in most schools began only at 9 or 10 a.m instead of the regular 8 or 8.30 a.m.

An official said that the delayed pre-board examinations will be conducted witin a week.

The schools in Chandigarh and elsewhere in Punjab and Haryana were supposed to resume Jan 12, but this was extended till Jan 17.

Bihar’s schools also had an extended winter vacation after bitter cold and heavy fog made it impossible for them to reopen Jan 4 as originally decided.

The problem now is to cover the lost days and the added pressure on children, Shanti Sinha, a worried mother said.

According to authorities, nearly 100 people had died during the past two weeks.