GURUGRAM: The Haryana Board of School Education (HBSE) has declared new timings for schools after air quality index (AQI) and particulate matter (PM) levels hit the 'very poor' level . The move was triggered after government school teachers unanimously wrote a letter to the director of the state elementary education department in Panchkula, to push back school timings. Tarun Suhag, president of the state elementary teachers' association said, "We have been observing that smog, which has engulfed Gurgaon over the last few days, has been at its worst this year. This is why all teachers, through our organisation, Haryana State Elementary Teachers' Association filed a request with HBSE to change school timings. To its credit, the board was very prompt, and decided that till November 30, timings of all government, private, aided and un-aided schools in the district will be pushed back by an hour, from the existing 8am-2.30pm to 9am-3.30pm." Haryana education minister Ram Bilas Sharma said, "These orders will be applicable with immediate effect." Parents, though, are confused with the new timings. Madhu Berry, whose kids study in Shiv Nadar School, said, "How will change in school timings help reduce smog? My kids normally reach home around 4pm. With the new timings, they will reach home only by 5pm, which is late. This is not a good step and should be looked into again." Agreeing with her, Ramesh Rana, president, Haryana Parents' Forum for Education, said, "Delay in school timings is absolutely wrong. The reason given by the education board is that there are many kids who are falling ill. That's not correct. Meanwhile, an hour's delay would mean kids will go to school late and return late, changing their daily routine." Schools are happy to comply with the order. Nirmal Yadav of Colonel's Central Academy, Gurgaon, said, "We abide with whatever order we get from the authorities, and we'll do so this time as well. Because of pollution, we'd anyway advised students not to go out often, but to stay indoors." Rama Rani, principal, government school, Jacobpura, said, "This is a good decision by HBSE. This year, the smog is terrible. New timings will allow smog to settle down a bit by the time students come to school." Usman Nasim, research associate (clean air and sustainable mobility) at Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), said, "It's not necessary for Gurgaon schools to change their timings. Across Delhi-NCR, PM2.5 levels are high. There's no emergency yet. This smog, which has engulfed most of the region, is due to stubble burning by farmers in Haryana, UP and Punjab. With winds coming in, the weather will clear by November 12 and we can hope to see the smog disappear."