New summer timing: Is 8.30 am really harsh on kids? 

Jammu and Kashmir government on Friday changed the school timing in Srinagar city from 8.30 am to 2.00 pm with immediate effect from May 1. It is not the first time that the government announced early summer timings in the backdrop of the communiqué issued by the Traffic Police to the School Education Department. However, the order managed to stir a hornet’s nest this time around. 

According to an official communiqué, the School Education Department had stated: “The administration conveys approval for change of School timings from 8.30 Am to 2.00 Pm from May -01-2022 and staggered timings for different classes in Srinagar city. This office has received a communication from Traffic Police Headquarter JK, Jammu regarding the change in School timing in Srinagar City.” 

The communiqué further stated that the timings of schools in Srinagar city are clashing with office timings during the afternoon peak hours which result in congestion on the main roads in wherein ‘52000 students come out from the schools mentioned in the communication during these hours’.

There were some who welcomed the order but few like a parent’s body were angered by it. 

However, those who welcomed the order said it was a good decision. “A good decision in my opinion as d kids get a lot of leisure time afternoon and also parents should enroll their kids in the nearby schools so they don’t need to wake up too early visa viz good for their health too (sic),” commented Gee Bhat on Facebook.

 Interestingly, even non-locals jumped into the social media debate with Amit Srivastava from Delhi saying that 8 am was the ‘usual time’ elsewhere too. “In Delhi also most of the school start at 8 am and it’s the usual time in all schools here. (sic),” he wrote. Others too expressed surprise over the anger with regard to the summer timings. “This summer timing is better than getting stuck in traffic jams …..It was so in past too. (sic),” pointed out another netizen.

While a netizen pointed out that Delhi too started school at 8.00 am, let us take a look at the timings in a few other cities. Recently, the Lucknow administration in Uttar Pradesh announced that the schools will operate physical classes from 7:30 am to 1:30 pm for teachers, whereas for students, the new time will be 7:30 am to 12:30 pm. And earlier this month in Bhubaneshwar, Odisha, the authorities had directed students of Standard I to VIII to attend their classes from 6:30 am to 10:30 am. Similarly, classes for Standard IX to XII are being conducted from 7 am to 11:30 am. The Jharkhand government has gone a step further and is presently having school from 6.00 am due to the rise in temperatures. “I had received a proposal from the school education and literacy department to change the school timings due to scorching heat and soon all the schools in the state will function between 6 am and 12 noon. I have given my approval to the proposal today,” Jharkhand education minister Jagarnath Mahato had recently stated. True, the mercury in Srinagar does not plummet in the summers that high but is 8.00 am too early given that some kids in other regions start at 6.00 am only?

Early summer timings are a norm everywhere else and not just in the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir. Those who are objecting to the order should suggest alternatives instead of criticizing the order just for the sake of it. Some have suggested that the offices should open before the schools. But, is it a valid argument? Imagine the condition of a single working mother or parents in a nuclear family whose kids go to school. They first prepare their kids for school and then drop them off at a bus stop or school. Later, they go to the office. If the offices open first, who will drop the kids off? All do not live in joint families and all kids do not have grandparents at home. And everywhere else, schools open before offices.

 No doubt, children will be inconvenienced due to the new summer timings. However, what are the options? Those who disagree should come up with sound suggestions and practical alternatives keeping in view the traffic issues and also the concerns of the working parents of nuclear families. If there is a valid suggestion, the concerned authorities should then have a rethink.