24 September,2016 08:24 AM IST | | Silky Sharma
With the high alert in Mumbai, parents are feeling scared to send their wards to school. Despite schools in the area tightening security and giving complete assurance of their children's safety to parents, a number of institutions reported a drop in attendance
With the high alert in Mumbai, parents are feeling scared to send their wards to school. Despite schools in the area tightening security and giving complete assurance of their children's safety to parents, a number of institutions reported a drop in attendance yesterday.
Many schools have even received calls from panicky parents, asking if they are conducting classes or not and expressing worry about the security situation. Some of the schools have sent personal messages to families, giving an assurance about their children's safety, but that doesn't seem to have quelled their fears as many kept their kids at home.
Tightening security
"Since morning, we have received 12 to 15 calls from parents and we have tried to assure them about their children's safety. We have actually increased the number of security guards at the gate; we also have a hospital on campus. But because we haven't received any notice from the government, we can't shut the school," said a spokesperson for DY Patil school in Nerul.
Schools say
Principal of Podar International School in Navi Mumbai, Somya Chatterjee, said, "Yesterday, after we received many calls from parents, we sent messages to all of them assuring them about their children's safety."
"The incident indeed is frightening; hence, we have taken action and tightened security. We have locked all the gates and kept only a part of the front one open, which will ensure that only one person can enter at a time. We are also strictly checking the ID cards of those who are coming to receive our students; we will keep this up for a few days at least," she added.
Holiday for some
A number of schools in Mumbai have also tightened their security, while some, namely The Cathedral & John Connon School and HVB Global Academy, remained closed. "Even though schools have taken enough measures for their students safety after the high alert, I didn't send my kids as the suspected men were found in our area and I couldn't take the risk," said Arun Mishra (38), a resident of Kharghar.
Amit Chaudhary, head of the Parent-Teacher Association of Podar International School, said, "No parents would prefer to send their kids out in such a situation, but I also think that the more one panics, the worse things will get. Hence, I sent my children to school."
