The 30-minute difference in commencement of government and private school students will help reduce congestion on the roads, according to an Education department official.

“The number of students studying in private schools are more compared to those in government schools.

Students of private schools are most often dropped by their parents in two wheelers or cars. If these schools start early, it would be easier for government school students to reach their institutions,” explained the official at a high-level meeting here on Monday. The government school timings can be changed in a phased manner, he added.

However, V M Narayan aswamy, General Secretary, Karnataka State Primary School Teachers Association felt the school timing change will be a problem for teachers. “In Bangalore, there are no teachers quarters. Most teachers stay in far-off places and have to travel quite a distance to reach the schools. To take the 9 am classes, teachers will have to leave their home an hour before. It’s the same with the students. Hence, it would be better to continue with the same timings,” he added.

It was also decided in the meeting that Physical Education teachers should help students to cross roads when the students enter or leave the schools. In this regard, a traffic training programme will be conducted for the teachers in association with the traffic department.

Besides the school timings, the issue of extending the lunch time for school children also came up at the meeting. Secretary to Primary and Secondary Education, Vijay Bhaskar observed that the lunch time in government schools was 40 minutes. It was now proposed to extend it by 10 minutes so that students could have a 50-minute break.