Rain in Kolkata and vast areas of south Bengal on Thursday forced some schools to suspend open-air classes that are being conducted for students from the pre-primary level to Class VII.
Classes held on the lawn of a school on Palmer Bazar Road in central Kolkata had to be suspended when a drizzle started around 1pm because there was no shade.
Classes of several schools held on the boulevard of Southern Avenue in south Kolkata ended early because the open-air facility does not have a shade either.
The children who attended classes under a shade at the Bagbazar Sarbojanin Puja ground in north Kolkata were taken home after rain started. Parents of many of the students wondered whether it would be advisable to send their children to the ground if the rain persisted.
The problem prompted parents to iterate their demands to shift classes to schools.
The Met office had predicted rain on Thursday.
Chief minister Mamata Banerjee said at an event in the afternoon that the state government was mulling starting classes of the primary section at the schools with 50 per cent attendance.
“If the situation is not problematic anymore, we have to see whether the primary classes can at least be started (at the schools). We have to speak to the schools about this. Students can take turns attending classes (in schools),” the chief minister said.
Sujay Shikdar, headmaster of Shastriji Harijan Vidyamandir, on Palmer Bazar Road, said the classes in the second slot that started at noon had to be suspended at 1.10pm because of rain.
Utsuk Poddar, a Class V student of Hindi Vidyalaya who attends classes on the grounds of Shastriji Harijan Vidyamandir, said: “We are suffering because of exposure to the afternoon sun or rain as the lawn does not have a shade.”
In the boulevard of Southern Avenue, classes of nine schools are being held. The boulevard does not have a shade.
Shibani Saha, mother of Soumyanjit Saha, a Class VII student of Kalidhan Institution on Southern Avenue, said classes in the second half that started at 1.30pm ended early because of rain.
“How can classes be run in an open-air facility that does not have a shade? Students have been left at the mercy of sun and rain. I am not sure whether I should send my son to the class if the condition prevails,” said Shibani Saha, who stays in Chetla in southwest Kolkata.
Pinki Pramanik, a Class V student who was standing in the rain after classes ended at the Bagbazar ground in north Kolkata, said she was looking forward to attending classes in school.