Jamshedpur : Concerned over rising heat in the city, most ICSE and CBSE schools across Jamshedpur will start 45 minutes or an hour earlier and wrap up before or by noon to help students from the heat wave.
Day temperatures of 40�C and above prompted schools to revise timings from Classes I to XII. Before the district administration could send circulars, schools have already taken the onus to provide relief to students.
Loyola School has decided to start school from 6: 25 am to 11: 30 am. Right now, most schools start around 7.30am and end between 1pm and 1.30pm. Kindergarten classes apart, which end early, students face the brunt of midday heat.
Valley View School, St Mary�s School, Dayanand Public School and Shree Krishna Public School have also changed the timings.
School staff said they had never come across a situation where lesson times had to be changed because of the temperature. �The month of April this year is warmer than usual from the beginning, and suddenly from the middle of the month the temperature shot up to almost 42 degrees Celsius, which is something completely unheard of,� said Pranjal Das, a senior teacher.
She added that the heat was so fierce that some students were close to falling ill and had to be asked to take rest. �The directive…regarding retiming of the classes was a big relief to both us and the students, and even on those days when the classes were retimed, we asked the students to drink an adequate amount of water while at school,� said Das.
Met officials of Jamshedpur, have also predicted hotter days ahead with no sign of rain before monsoon. He said that when the storms disrupt sea breeze and delay the onset. This results in the temperature soaring above normal. The dry westerly and northwesterly winds from Bay of Bengal are making the temperature rise.
Sources added that all private and government-run schools are mulling over to change the school timings due to harsh weather conditions. Meanwhile city-based senior doctor, Dr. U K Srivastava said that people should take extra care during such sweltering weather conditions.
�I am of the opinion that special arrangements should be made in all government hospitals and community health centres across the city to treat those suffering from sunstroke. There should be arrangement of air-conditioners or air-coolers for the treatment of such patients,� he noted.
