Many children are having fever and complaining of dizziness and nausea, a trend that doctors are partially attributing to the ongoing spell of scorching heat.
A number of students stayed away from class in the last couple of days and parents have informed the authorities that the children were running a temperature, the heads of two schools said.
In the junior section of one of the schools in central Kolkata, around 10 students from each class on an average were absent on Wednesday.
Among those who turned up, many threw up, teachers said.
On Tuesday, a Class I student was found to be running a temperature of 101 degrees Fahrenheit at 9am, an hour after classes started for the day. The parents were called and the child was sent back home.
Several schools have reported a rise in the number of visits to the on-campus infirmary by students.
“Parents have been calling us and saying their children were feeling lethargic, getting dehydrated and running a temperature. The children have lost the habit of going to school because of the Covid pandemic. The current spell of heat has only added to their health problems,” said Apurba Ghosh, director of the Institute of Child Health.
Ghosh said children aged between five and 12 were suffering the most.
The mother of a six-year-old found her daughter running a temperature on Monday evening, hours after she returned from school.
“Classes end at 1pm. She returns home by school bus, which is not air-conditioned. After getting off at the bus stop, she has to walk for some distance in the heat. She reaches home around 1.50pm, when the discomfort is at its peak,” said Dalia Majumder, a resident of Jadavpur in south Kolkata.
Mothers have been sharing stories of their children’s sufferings — from feeling dizzy to headache — in WhatsApp groups. Many of the children are reluctant to eat.
“In some classes, 10 to 12 children were absent on Wednesday. They (those who turned up) were not their usual self and some were throwing up. We are flexible and allowing them to stay back home,” said Jessica Gomes Surana, principal of Loreto Convent Entally.
A school in New Town said the number of leave applications has gone up.
“About 80 per cent of the leave applications that I approved were from parents of children who remained absent because of cold and cough, dehydration and fever,” said Satabdi Bhattacharyya, principal, The Newtown School.
The city has been reeling from heatwave-like conditions since Sunday.
“The heatwave-like conditions have created problems for children. In the last two years (when the campuses were closed because of the Covid pandemic), children were not exposed to each other. Now they are and the viral fever is getting transmitted from one child to another,” said paediatrician B.K. Manocha.
He said children should wear light cotton clothes, drink plenty of water and carry extra bottles to school. If schools provide water, the authorities must ensure that it is not contaminated.
Several other schools have taken a decision to tweak their timings from Thursday.
At La Martiniere for Girls, the students are being sent home between 10am and 11.50am, depending on which classes they are in. At La Martiniere for Boys, the dispersal starts at 10am and continues till 12.25pm. The change will take effect from Thursday.
“We have made the changes because of the heat. In the morning some children are feeling giddy and are getting exhausted by the end of the day. They again have to get up the next morning. We do not want to take chances with their health,” said Rupkatha Sarkar, principal of La Martiniere for Girls.
Mahadevi Birla World Academy will hold classes online from Thursday till May 2.
“Even if we shorten the hours, children will be out on the road for a long time. There are many who have to wait for the pool car in the heat, so we decided to go back to online classes,” said principal Anjana Saha.