New Delhi: For parents in the NCR region, the Kanwar Yatra has brought a new worry—getting their children to school safely.
With traffic restrictions, road diversions and large crowds of Kanwar pilgrims across the city, parents say they are worried about children, particularly younger students, getting stuck in traffic or being caught in the chaos on the roads.
“Rather than traffic and ruckus and putting our kids in an unsafe environment, we would much rather they do online school,” said a Ghaziabad parent whose daughter is in Class 3.
The parent said safety was the biggest concern, particularly for younger children. While online classes come with their own problems, some parents see them as a safer alternative while the Kanwar Yatra is underway.
‘Not a replacement for classrooms’
District administrations in Ghaziabad, Meerut, Muzaffarnagar and Noida have announced closures of educational institutions as large numbers of Kanwar pilgrims enter the region and traffic restrictions are imposed on major roads. In Ghaziabad, schools and other educational institutions have been ordered shut from 4 to 12 August, with classes expected to resume on 13 August.
The Ghaziabad district school inspector’s order, issued 3 August, said the decision was taken because of the large number of Kanwariyas and devotees and restrictions on traffic on several roads. It covers primary, upper-primary and secondary schools, as well as CBSE and ICSE institutions, technical and higher education institutions, madrassas and Sanskrit-board institutions.
The traffic restrictions have been extensive, with several major routes in Ghaziabad and the Ghaziabad-Meerut stretch of the Delhi-Meerut Expressway facing restrictions during the peak Kanwar period.
For parents, the closure has brought relief from one immediate concern—getting children through congested roads—but it has also revived a larger worry over how often schools in the NCR are being disrupted.
In recent months, schools in the region have faced closures or disruptions because of extreme heat, heavy rain and air pollution. The Kanwar Yatra is now the latest reason for classrooms to close.
Vivek Tyagi, formerly associated with the Ghaziabad Parents Association and now with the Indian Parents Association, said the latest closure showed that education was not being treated as a priority.
“Right now it is Kanwar Yatra, then it will be rain, then pollution. Schools barely stay open now. Education is the backbone of society but it is not being treated as such,” he said.
Tyagi said repeated closures could leave schools struggling to complete the syllabus within the school session, eventually putting students under pressure to catch up.
“We can’t even speak up when it comes to matters of religion. But it is a real problem, even parents are facing difficulties with transportation because of the traffic,” he said.
Some schools, however, have tried to ensure that the closure does not translate into a complete break from academics.
At Vanasthali Public School in Ghaziabad, classes have shifted online.
“It is better to make them study online than let them get stuck in traffic or ruckus,” said principal Ankur Jain.
Jain said road diversions had begun even before the formal closure order, making it difficult for students and parents to reach school on time. With many students already accustomed to online learning after the Covid-19 pandemic, the transition was relatively easy, he said.
“The students are already used to studying online since Covid. At least this way, the curriculum is not left behind,” Jain said.
But online classes also have limitations, he added, particularly increased screen time and the loss of extracurricular activities.
“The biggest drawback is that students are dependent on screens and are missing out on all the co-curricular activities,” he said.
A representative of Ghaziabad Public School said classes were also continuing online and teachers were not facing difficulties in completing the syllabus. Other schools have similarly moved online, with some parents preferring the arrangement because school buses cannot operate normally amid road closures and traffic diversions.
For these parents, the choice is less about preferring online education and more about avoiding the risks posed by the roads during the Kanwar Yatra.
But educators and parents say online classes are, at best, a way to limit academic loss, not a replacement for classrooms. The shift also raises questions about students who may not have reliable access to smartphones, computers or internet connections, particularly those in government schools or from economically weaker households.
For these students, a school closure can mean more than a change in the mode of teaching. It can mean losing access to education altogether for the duration of the shutdown.