Schools told not to insist on uniforms for flood victims

Thiruvananthapuram: The State Commission for Protection of Child Rights has said that schools should not force children in flood-affected regions to wear uniforms. The schools will re-open on August 29 after the Onam vacation.

"This is a time when most of the kids in flood-affected areas have lost their textbooks, notebooks and their clothes. No action whatsoever should be taken against children for not bringing their books, or not wearing uniforms, to classes," the commission said in an order on Monday. Over 3 lakh children are now in the 3,000-odd relief camps across the state. A huge volunteer-driven effort is on at the moment in various parts of the state to prepare notes for schoolchildren who had lost their books to the floods. Schoolchildren who have not been affected by the floods are the ones at the forefront of this task.

Also read: Note this! Flood-hit students to get lessons written

The order also said that the school management and parent-teacher associations should ensure that the school premises and classrooms were sanitised and kept in the best of conditions. The commission also wanted noon-meal officers to provide lunch for children in need. Since lakhs of families still remain at relief camps it will not be possible for mothers to prepare lunch for school-going children.

Further, the Child Rights Commission asked district collectors, CBSE regional officers, education deputy directors, and child protection officers to make sure that the schools were following the directives. "Authorities should promptly inform child protection officers if they find that any child requires special care," the order said. There have been reports that children are suffering from insomnia and anxiety in relief camps. "Many kids are having nightmares about the rising waters. These kids have seen waters rising right in front of their eyes. Some have their dear ones killed by the flood," said Dr John Peringamala, a child counsellor.

Earlier, the Commission had ordered that children who had been separated from their parents should be shifted to child welfare centres in the state. It had also directed that children should be protected at camps and welfare homes till their homes were fit to live.