Tiny feet waltz back to school with innocent confidence

| | New Delhi
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Tiny feet waltz back to school with innocent confidence

Friday, 03 May 2024 | Abhi Singhal/Aditi Sharma/ Samar Pandey/Rishabh Malik | New Delhi

Tiny feet waltz back to school with innocent confidence

It was just another start of the day for the school going toddlers and young children on Thursday who a day earlier had been evacuated from their classrooms following a bomb scare across over 100 schools of the Delhi NCR. In the schools which resumed, children appeared to be more confident than their parents when they exchanged the routine 'tata; bye-bye' greetings. 

Several schools, however, decided to remain closed as part of security measures and a few of them observed a low attendance. The Pioneer reporters visited more than a dozen schools across the national Capital and observed that students were back to school in their school buses, private vans or parents' pick drop facility.

Principal of Kendriya Vidyalaya in Sadiq Nagar, Mamta Singh said, "Our attendance today has not dropped and students are also feeling safe and secure and it is our responsibility to ensure the security of the students". School management had assured parents on Wednesday itself that there is no need to worry. We didn't get anything on our official email ID," she added.

The parents came to drop students off at school just like on a normal day without any fears. On Wednesday, 131 schools received bomb threats via email, which led to mass evacuation and panic in the schools of Delhi and Noida.

Ajit Singh, who came to drop his children at Sarvodaya Vidyalaya in Keshav Puram in north Delhi area said, "It is just like any other day, and he as a parent was not scared at all." He further added that this was only a way to create panic.

Sadina Khatoon, a mother of two children, came to drop her children at the Delhi MCD Primary School in Sukhdev Kunj and expressed that she was not scared and even other students have also turned up in the school.

Several schools also sent messages early in the morning to parents not to send their children to school whereas a majority of parents were concerned after the bomb threats. While talking to some parents outside the school, they looked concerned, "My daughter's school did not receive any threat email and school has also convinced the parents about the security of the kids but still as a mother our concern is obvious," said Divya Singh, mother of a class 4 student in The Indian School, Sadiq Nagar, New Delhi.

Guru Harkrishan Public School was one of the schools which had received bomb hoax mail on Wednesday. In its Shahdara branch students were seen at usual strength just like the regular days but parents were concerned about school security and raised some security protocols for the educational institutions like CCTV cameras around the entry-exit of the school gates along with security deployment of guards during the entrance of the gates.

On the other hand, primary school Konark public school located in the same area showed signs of concern from parents which resulted in a dip in attendance in the school.

 Bal Bharti Pusa, Springdales and Salwan Public Schools were also the target of bomb threats via email. Strict security measures were enforced following the previous day's threat. Children were confined to classrooms and restricted from accessing playgrounds, gardens, or the canteen area.

The threat to Bal Bharti Public School, Springdales led to heavy traffic congestion in areas like Pusa, Karol Bagh, and Rajender Nagar, with significant police presence and traffic officers assisting in clearing the roads. Despite the tense situation, the overall attendance remained relatively stable, with an 80 per cent turnout. However, some parents opted to keep their children at home for safety reasons, particularly in the Montessori and nursery classes, resulting in a 40 per cent decrease in attendance for these grades.

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