Advance summer vacations, child rights body tells education dept

Suggestion comes after death of 7yearold due to heat stroke outside a Jalandhar school; will take a call soon: Minister

JALANDHAR: Taking suo moto cognizance of the death of a sevenyear-old child due to heat wave outside the school in Jalandhar, state commission for protection of child rights commission has written to the education department to pre-pone summer vacations in the state in view of heat wave in the region.

The letter, that has been sent to the education department, states that the commission had taken serious notice of the incident and perceived the heat wave to be the cause of the child’s death.

“Even the meteorological department has forecast intense heat wave that could adversely affect health of small school-going children,” the letter reads.

“It is recommended that either vacations be pre-poned or school timings be changed so that no student falls victim to the heat wave,” the letter further goes on to say.

Class 2 student Priyansh Sharma (7) died outside his school after taking the English exam on May 15.

A student of St Joseph Convent school, he fell unconscious after he came out of the school and was taken to a private hospi- tal, where he was declared brought dead.

A district-level committee was also formed by deputy commissioner Varinder Kumar Sharma, led by sub divisional magistrate Rajiv Verma. Civil surgeon Maninder Kaur Minhas and education officers of primary and secondary wing are also a part of the committee.

After the investigation, Rajiv submitted the report to DC on Wednesday and said the child died due to a heat stroke as he could not bear the intense heat waves.

“In the report, I have suggested that the timings of the schools be changed at the earliest as children cannot bear the high temperature. Also, first aid should be available and doctors should be present in all schools,” he said.

When contacted, education minister Aruna Chaudhary she said that she will consider this suggestion positively.

“Right now, there is no change in the schedule of vacations but if everyone is in favour of the decision, I will consider it,” she said.

SCHOOLS STICK TO DECADE-OLD PLAN

Schedule of summer vacations, that usually start from June 1, is at least a decade-old — from a time when the state of Punjab did not witness high temperatures in the months of April and May.

KK Aeri, former meritorious school principal, said, “The government should change the schedule of summer vacations’. Gone are the days when the scorching heat would start in June or July, as now the temperature starts to rise in April- May itself.”