RIYADH: Several community and private schools here which follow foreign curricula have reduced working hours due to extreme heat condition. With the start of summer season the day temperature the capital has reached around 40 degrees Celsius and above. According to school authorities the summer schedule was adopted to avoid children face summer-related health problems such as dehydration, nose-bleeding and heat exhaustion. The schools said the summer schedule has become a routine annual practice when the working hours have been reduced by more than an hour. Moreover, parents are also in favor of reduced working hours that would help their wards from exposure to extreme noon-time temperatures and of scorching sunrays. M.J. Siddiqui, Principal of International Indian School, Riyadh (IISR), which has an enrolment of about 10,000 students, announced the new summer schedule already effective from June 1. In a circular, he said the school has taken the decision due to the prevailing heat condition. Muhammad Asad, Director, Board of Directors, Pakistan International School, Riyadh (PISR), said the summer schedule was introduced some two weeks ago as a precautionary measure to avoid any health problem to the children due to the extreme heat condition. Muhammad Hussain of Bangladesh International School, Riyadh (BISR) said children could not bear the extreme weather condition due to which the school has reduced the working hours. “Students, particularly at primary level, cannot tolerate exposure to the hot sun while going home. At least two children fainted last year due to heat exhaustion,” he said. Tariq Mahmood Saeed, Principal, Mansoura International School, a privately-owned school said the management has taken a decision to conduct examination in the mornings so that the students can go home early. The New Middle East International School (NMEIS) has overhauled all the air-conditioners before the start of the summer season. “We have installed new air-conditioners in some of the classrooms and overhauled ACs where needed,” said an NMEIS official. Despite all these measures, the school has followed the summer schedule by reducing the timing by more than one hour. M.C. Sebastian, Principal, Al-Yasmin International School, said there was no need to change the school timing because each classroom has a strength of 20 students. He said the students felt uncomfortable when the classrooms are overcrowded. “We don't have any overcrowding of classrooms and hence we did not think it was necessary to cut the teaching hours,” he said. Students at some of the schools that have huge enrollment are still complaining of improper cooling in the classrooms, particularly at noon time. “It is not that the old and poorly maintained air-conditioners fail to cool the classrooms but the devices trip frequently causing a feeling of suffocation among students,” said Nabila Khatoon, a student at an international community school. She said suffocation is largely due to overcrowding of the classroom with students sitting close to each other. Besides, the school management does not care to fix the air-conditioners that do not cool properly.
