New Delhi:
As dengue tightens its grip over the national capital, schools are slightly relaxing their strict rules regarding uniforms for students.
With the city reporting over 1300 dengue cases and four deaths due to the vector-borne disease, schools are eager to ensure that children do not suffer from mosquito bites.
Several private schools in the city have issued circulars asking children to wear full-sleeve shirts and trousers while the MCD has also said that students in institutions run by it should cover themselves fully.
"We have asked the students to wear full-sleeves.
But we should also keep in mind that most of the children who come to our schools are from economically weaker section.
So they should be allowed to wear any dress which helps them to protect themselves from mosquito bites," Leader of MCD House Subhash Arya said.
City Mayor Prithvi Raj Sawhney, himself a former teacher, has urged Chairman of MCD Education Committee M Nagpal to ensure that civic body-run schools do not give "much insistence" on proper uniforms.
Several private schools have asked the students to wear their winter uniforms which are full-sleeve.
"The school has issued circular asking the children to wear full-sleeves. Some parents are sending them in winter uniform (which is full-sleeve but not woolen) though we are preferring the use of mosquito-repellent cream," said the mother of a student of Banyan Tree School.
Another guardian from A P J School, Sheikh Sarai said the students were told by teachers in the assembly that they can come in full-sleeve dress.
"While elder students are wearing winter uniforms, students in primary schools are even being seen in denim jeans. There is no objection," he said.
In neighbouring Noida, many institutes have urged its students to cover themselves up while in Ghaziabad, schools have issued circulars advising students to wear full-length clothing and use mosquito-repellent creams.