Chaos after ‘rainy day' order lands late
Many parents and students scrambled to make hectic arrangements to return home as they came to know about the order only after reaching the school.
Children who reached by private school vans or public transport were stranded as these vehicles dropped them off and left. After getting information about closure, parents had to rush through waterlogged streets to pick their children.
District inspector of schools (DIOS), Lucknow, Rakesh Pandey said the closure order was released at 6.30am through a WhatsApp message.
"Schools will remain open on Aug 5 (Tuesday). No further closure has been announced," he said. "As soon as we assessed that the intensity of rainfall was severe enough to warrant a closure, the order was issued to ensure safety of students," Pandey said.
However, several parents claimed they received the message only after 7.30am and by that time their children had already left for school.
"The school gate closes at 7.30am.
I received the message for closure after 7.30am. By then, my child had already reached the school, and the van had left after dropping him," said Anjali Verma, mother of a class 2 student.
Shalini Yadav, mother of a class 3 student, said: "It had been raining heavily since Saturday, but no decision was taken till Monday morning. My son's school van dropped him at the gate, and then we were informed that the school was closed.
I had to leave work, navigate flooded roads, and pick him up. This could have been avoided if the order was issued earlier."
Rakesh Tiwari, father of two school-going children, said: "My kids reached the school by a tempo which left after dropping them. I had to drive to the school to bring them back."
Poonam Srivastava, mother of a class 5 student, said that she was already at work when she got a call from a teacher to pick her daughter.
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