Delhi-NCR schools register fall in attendance after bomb scare; Here's how principals reacted: ‘Parents still scarred..’

Delhi-NCR schools recorded thin attendance on Thursday, May 2, a day after as many as 200 schools in the national capital received bomb threats via emails.

On Wednesday early morning, educational institutions across Delhi-NCR received emails threatening that a bomb has been placed in the campus premises. This turned out to be  a hoax, but triggered  panic among parents and students. Many schools sent messages early in the morning to parents not to send their wards to school while others suspended classes and urged parents to pick their wards from the school.  

Also read: Delhi schools bomb scare: Cops suspect ‘joint conspiracy by China, ISI’; FIR registered

Meanwhile, on Thursday,  schools reopened but many students did not come as parents were apprehensive after the bomb scare. Low attendance was reported even in schools where the threat was not received, PTI reported.

School managements across the national capital revisited their evacuation plans for such emergencies.

Also read: Bomb threat in Delhi schools Highlights: Delhi Police's Special Cell registers FIR; probes ISI, China angle

How principals of Delhi-NCR schools reacted?

Jyoti Arora, the Principal of Mount Abu School, told PTI that she revisited the school's evacuation plan for each floor and also wrote to disaster management authorities to conduct mock drills and awareness programmes. She admitted there was  a dip in attendance than usual on May 2, and requested parents to observe their wards and understand the need to provide counselling to kids. 

She said, "I wrote an email to parents telling them to counsel their children and in case they need help from school counsellors, they are also available. I also requested parents to assess their reaction in case of such situations," reported PTI.

When news of the bomb threat spread, some parents had rushed to the school and were frantically insisting that they need to take their children from the school out of turn. “I told them, I have 2,700 children to take care of,” PTI quoted her as saying.

• Principal of ITL Public School in Dwarka, Sudha Acharya said, “Our attendance today has dropped to 85 per cent from an average of about 95 to 97 per cent daily. Certainly parents are still scarred and anxious about the safety of their children. ” She said the school management had assured parents on Wednesday itself that there is no need to worry. We didn't get anything on our official email ID."  She noted that many parents were scarred and anxious about the safety of their children, despite the fact that the school did not receive the email threat.

Also read: Bomb scare: Nearly 100 Delhi-NCR schools get bomb threats, students evacuated; search on

Anita Khosla, Principal of G D Goenka Public School, Dwarka, said, “There has been a 10-15 per cent drop in attendance due to the hoax threat compared to the usual strength every day. Parents should understand panicking would not help anyone. We need mutual cooperation to walk out of this situation.”

• The head of the National Progressive Schools Conference, Acharya said, "For instance, in nursery and KG classes, the attendance is around 80 per cent since there is some fear among parents." 

On Wednesday, Delhi Police issued an appeal to the public to dismiss audio messages making false claims about the bomb threat, which were being widely circulated on WhatsApp groups.