Cold mornings in the Valley are here, and the School Education Department must act before children pay the price
Winter arrives early in Kashmir. By the first week of October, the mornings turn sharp, the fog settles over the plains, and temperatures in many parts of the Valley drop close to freezing before sunrise. Yet thousands of children are still leaving home at seven in the morning, walking or waiting for buses in the cold, to reach schools that open at the same hour as they did in the warmth of August.
This makes no sense. The School Education Department knows the pattern of the Kashmir winter better than anyone. It knows that the cold does not wait for the official calendar. It knows that small children, especially those in primary classes, are the most exposed. And yet, year after year, the decision to change school timings comes late, often after parents have complained for weeks and after the first wave of seasonal illness has already swept through classrooms.
The case for an immediate change is simple. Early morning cold brings a rise in coughs, colds, chest infections and fever among children. Doctors in the Valley see this every year. A child shivering in a cold classroom at eight in the morning is not learning anything. A child who falls sick and misses a week of school loses far more than the hour that a later start would cost.
There is also the question of safety. Fog in the morning reduces visibility on roads across the Valley. School buses and private vehicles carrying children share these roads with trucks and other traffic. Pushing the school day back by an hour or so would mean children travel after the fog has lifted and the roads are clearer. That alone should settle the matter.
Rural schools deserve special attention. Many lack proper heating. Many have broken windows and damp floors. Children in these schools sit on cold ground in the early hours. For them, a later start is not a matter of comfort. It is a matter of basic health.
The department should issue a revised schedule for the Kashmir division now, not in November. A start time of nine or half past nine for primary classes, and a slightly earlier slot for higher classes, would be reasonable. Private schools should be brought under the same order so that there is no confusion among parents with children in different institutions.
The government has a duty to protect public welfare, and the welfare of children stands above most other concerns. Delaying this decision serves no one. It only exposes the administration to the familiar charge that it reacts to problems rather than preventing them.
The cold is already here. The children are already feeling it. The department should change the timings this week.
