Several schools in Noida have declared an off, while a few others have decided to shut down junior classes. Ghaziabad schools, however, have decided to remain open.
Late at night yesterday, Noida parents received messages from school managements of several schools, declaring the schools shut for the safety of children. It further said that the step was a precautionary measure in view of the attack on GD Goenka School bus in Guragaon.
This decision has been taken by private schools, and the district administration has passed no such order.
Some schools in Noida such as Step by Step in Sector 132, Lotus Valley International School in Sector 126 and Pathways School in Sector 100 are completely closed.
A few other schools have declared classes shut for the junior sections. They include Kothari International School in Sector 50 (KG to third class), Delhi Public School in Sector 30 (Nursery to Class VIII), The Khaitan School in Sector 40 (Nursery to Class V), Father Angel School in Sector 62 (Nursery to Class II) and DPS in Greater Noida (Nursery to Class VIII).
Sumit Singh, a parent of Pathways School in Sector 100, said, “We received a message at around 10.30 pm from the school management saying that tomorrow school will be closed in view of what happened to the bus in Gurgaon.”
Parents, too, are happy with the decision. “We decided that we will not send our children to school till the situation normalises. We will start sending them by next week," said by Nisha Gaur, a resident of Sector 26.
In Ghaziabad, however, all schools have remained open, triggering a panic among parents who are concerned about the safety of their children. Many parents chose not to send their wards to schools.
Managements of several private schools in Ghaziabad confirmed to City Spidey that schools were open and going about their usual business.
Subhash Jain, president of Independent Schools Federation of Ghaziabad, too confirmed the same. He said, “All schools associated with the federation are open. We decided to keep the schools open after we received assurance from the authorities regarding safety and security.”
But such assurance did little to assuage the fears of worried parents. They felt the tension would escalate as Padmaavat protestors could continue with their agenda against the screening of the film.
“After we learnt about the Gurgaon incident, we decided not to send our children to school as a precautionary measure. Most of the members of the parents’ association also decided the same,” said Shivani Jain, president of All Schools Parents’ Association.
