BENGALURU: In the schools that received bomb threat mails on Friday, it was a day of unending drama and action. Tension on at least one campus was punctuated by zumba and other activities.
As soon as the bomb scare was triggered in Ebenezer International School, the principal and teachers rolled out a fire drill to evacuate the buildings. The students were gathered at the playground and made to stand under the trees in their class groups. What followed were sessions of zumba, dance and exercises to keep them engaged.
"The quick and mature reaction of schools which received the hoax bomb threat is commendable. As it is, stress levels are high among students and parents emerging from two years of pandemic scares and scars. Now, it’s for police to get to the source of this nefarious act at the earliest and bring the culprits to book. If there is a conspiracy, as suggested by the chief minister, investigators have to double their efforts, failing which miscreants will only feel emboldened. Chasing digital footprints of the mail will need expertise, but there should be no room for laxity or delay in this. After all, children were the targets, even if the mail turned out to be a hoax.-Timesview"
“We also got some food from the pantry for the students. By that time news got around. Parents started dropping in and we let children go with them. By noon, all children had left campus,” said a senior faculty member with Ebenezer International School. The school had 750 students on campus from grades 1-12.
At Inventure Academy, there were over a 1,000 students. “We have one more week of classes to ensure children catch up on the days lost due to Covid restrictions. We happened to see the mail only by 1. 30pm as it had gone to spam. As soon as we saw it, we decided to send children back as we didn’t want to take any kind of risk. The parents were alerted and students were sent back in school buses,” said Nooraine Fazal, founder, Inventure Academy.
Delhi Public School had a summer camp under way with around 300 students and parents on campus. “We received around 140 emails of the bomb threat. It came in the email ids available on the website meant for admissions and contacts. Police were immediately informed and the campus evacuated. We wanted no risks,” said Manila Carvelho, principal, Delhi Public School East.
Gopalan International School had summer vacation and there were no students on campus. The teachers were immediately evacuated and police called.
“Everyone was safely evacuated. Police and bomb squad did a terrific job of thoroughly checking the campus and keeping things calm. It’s reassuring to know that teams are prepared and ready for checks at short notice,” said Kavita Gupta Sabharwal, founder of Neev Academy.
By the time news spread, there were panic calls made by parents, most of them seeking clarity on the issue. There were heated discussions on parents’ groups and some of them took to Twitter. “Got call from@my kid’s school abt bomb threat. This is really scary. . . ” a mother said on Twitter.
