Many states have announced summer vacations in school owing to the scorching heat across India but Bihar has emerged as an exception where students are still attending classes facing the oppressive temperature due to which students are falling sick and fainting in different parts of the state. On 29th May more than 60 students in Begusarai and Sheikhpura passed out and collapsed in their classroom.
Intense heat wave conditions prevailing in #Bihar.
— All India Radio News (@airnewsalerts) May 29, 2024
Several students in government schools fainted due to severe #heatwave in Sheikhpura and Begusarai.
Students were later admitted to hospital. pic.twitter.com/zRn8hgbIc8
On the morning of 29th May, at least 50 kids passed out at Mankaul Middle School in the Ariari block of Sheikhpura district amidst an acute heatwave, where temperatures are rising to between 40 and 45 degrees Celsius. Six pupils lost consciousness initially, but many more soon began to fall on the ground. The incident occurred when they went to an assembly for prayers before going to class. The entire situation threw the village and school into disarray.
When the ambulance failed to arrive, the unconscious students were given water and electrolytes and taken straight to the Sadar hospital in the district on bikes, tempos, and e-rickshaws. The locals, however, were incensed by the ambulance’s delay in reaching the spot and they proceeded to blockade the road and demonstrate against the government. Suresh Prasad narrated, “Students from the 8th grade started fainting in class after attending the assembly. We provided them with water and electrolytes and called for an ambulance. When it didn’t arrive, we used private vehicles to take them to the hospital.”
Meanwhile, at around 10 am approximately eighteen female pupils from Matihani Middle School in the Matihani block of the Begusarai district fainted from the extreme heat and were taken to Matihani Referral Hospital for medical attention. All the schools are open despite temperatures exceeding 40 degrees in Begisurai. School Headmaster Chandrakant Singh tried administering the ORS solution to the students however, it didn’t help after which all the girls were admitted to hospital.
देखें वीडियो, बिहार में हाहाकार, बच्चों को टांग-टांग के भागे, छटपटाकर गिरने लगे, केके पाठक के खिलाफ रोड जाम…#KKPathak #Students #BiharNews #BreakingNews #GovernmentTeachers pic.twitter.com/NqYurWqbAN
— Live Cities (@Live_Cities) May 29, 2024
The girls began passing out from the heat, according to the headmaster, however, the institution has fans, electricity and a generator set up. The girls received first aid at the school, but when their condition grew worse, they were all sent to the hospital to receive treatment. The students received a midday lunch in the school after 10 o’clock and were granted leave when family members began to arrive at the hospital and school after learning that the children were sick. The leave violates the official directive which has pronounced that the schools must remain open despite the severe temperature.
A school cook and many students suffered from the same fate in the Banka district on 29th May. A cook fell unconscious due to the heat in UMS Lalwamor Shambhuganj while the health of many young girls and boys at Middle School Baidpur and Middle School Mirzapur deteriorated due to the unbearable heat. A female pupil of Banka Sadar block’s Primary School Lilagoda passed out. Ayush Kumar, a student at NPS Kakna in the Sadar block, suffered nose bleeding. After two female students from two different Belhar block schools fainted, they were sent to the Community Health Center Belhar for medical attention.
Two ninth-grade pupils at LND Project Balika Uchcha Vidyalaya under Bounsi in the Banka district had an abrupt decline in their health. Both students complained of vomiting because of the heat and passed out. Likewise, two students passed out from intense heat in Aurangabad. The incident happened at the Government Higher Secondary School, which is situated in the Madanpur block of the Aurangabad district’s Chhalidohar village. Two kids had heat stroke and lost consciousness, causing a commotion across the entire school.
After the teachers called 112, the students were admitted to Community Health Centre Madanpur, where the doctor noted that both of their conditions had improved following first assistance. On 29th May, another six youngsters fainted and fell unconscious at the same time at Kurmichak Middle School in the Ghoswari block after which a 10-year-old was sent to a private clinic in nearby Samyagadh in haste due to her critical condition. Notably, similar reports have surfaced from different regions of Bihar creating major concerns for parents and teachers.
The Bihar government was asked to address this issue seriously by educators and parents. Residents voiced their outrage, arguing that, in light of the intense heat, Additional Chief Secretary KK Pathak should issue an order to close the schools. They pointed out that the temperature ranges from 42 to 45 degrees Celsius on 29th May. Notably, the then Additional Chief Secretary of Education Department KK Pathak had written so many letters during the winter season in response to the then-Patna District Magistrate’s order to close schools that officials of other districts did not want to take such a risk. The transfer of Patna DM marked the end of that correspondence.
The department of the Education Minister of the Grand Alliance (RJD-JDU-Congress) government was also changed due to trouble with KK Pathak. The Education Department has ordered kids and teachers to report to school instead of enjoying the annual summer vacation and their positions are under threat if they do not comply. He has instructed the teachers to report to school at 6 am during the summer. Schools are now opening from 6 am to 1.30 pm when the temperature is at its peak. Orders from KK Pathak are reputed to be eccentric. Sometimes he directs teachers to come to school on festivals including Holi, and other times he cancels the leave granted on Bihar’s biggest festival “Chhath.” Many times, the education department of Bihar has to withdraw its decisions due to opposition and embarrassment.
