12 August,2009 09:07 AM IST | | Vivek Sabnis
Due to swine flu scare, city schools to keep Independence Day celebration a low-key affair; only staff members to attend flag-hoisting ceremony
The severity of swine flu can be felt by the fact that it will be the first time in the history of independent India that students won't participate in the flag hoisting ceremony that's being held in schools across the nation.
Since the government has asked city schools to shut down for a week, there will not be any parade nor will you get a chance to hear Saare Jahan Se Achcha Hindustan Hamara sung by the school children on Independence Day.
Prakash Parab, chief of High School and Higher Education, Pune Zilla Parishad, said, "We have issued an order to the authorities of all 750 primary and secondary schools in Pune city and its suburban areas, including Pimpri and Chinchwad, to stop conducting classes for a week. Thus, no student will be attending the school on Independence Day this year."
On the other hand, Ravindra Vanjarwadkar, president of the governing council of Maharashtra Education Society, lamented, "It's really sad that we'll be celebrating the 62nd Independence Day without the students." Vanjarwadkar added that they will pay tribute to Reeda Shaikh and Shruti Gawade who fell prey to the deadly H1N1 virus.
Sudhakar Tambe, chief of PMC High School, said, "We are not inviting any prominent personality to hoist the flag this year." While Ramchandra Jadhav, chief of primary schools run by the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), said, "All 270 primary schoolsu00a0 that are run by the PMC will keep Independence Day celebration a low-key affair."
But Ajit Patwardhan, president of the governing body of Deccan Education Society, said that they are trying to contact the authorities of education department to get the directives on how to celebrate Independence Day this year. "Otherwise, the members of our teaching staff come to all the seven schools that are run by the society," he said.
