The decision came after the Supreme Court on Thursday pulled up the Delhi government for resuming physical classes in schools amid a rise in the air pollution levels in the city.
Schools in Delhi will shut from Friday until further orders in light of rising pollution levels, Environment Minister Gopal Rai said Thursday.
Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, who is also the state education minister, tweeted, “All schools in Delhi will remain shut till further orders because of rising levels of pollution. Board exams, however, will continue as scheduled.”
“We had reopened schools considering the forecast that air quality would improve. However, the air pollution levels have increased again and we have decided to shut schools from Friday till further orders,” Gopal Rai said.
The announcement came shortly after the Supreme Court came down heavily on the Delhi government and the Centre over steps taken to tackle the pollution problem in the national capital. The court had pulled up the Delhi government for resuming physical classes in schools amid a rise in the air pollution levels in the city.
The court said the Aam Aadmi Party government had made various assurances, such as work from home, lockdown, and closure of schools and colleges in the previous hearings. However, despite these assurances, children were going to school while elders were working from home.
Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for the Delhi government, said schools were reopened after experts said there was a learning loss for students due to offline classes. He said they had been reopened only for those who wanted to go.
Not enthused by the argument, the bench said, ‘Don’t use our shoulders to fire… If you say only those who want to come should come, then all will. Who will want to sit at home now…”
Schools in the national capital reopened from Monday (November 29) for students of all classes. The government had shut schools in the city earlier in November due to a spike in air pollution levels.
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