The Directorate of Education, Delhi has ordered all schools in the national capital as the battle against extreme air pollution rages on. The decision was announced after directions were issued by the Commission for Air Quality Management in NCR for this week in order to reduce pollution and as a preventive measure against its effects.
 
Classes will be conducted online this week as well. For primary and secondary school students, in particular, their return to school after 19 months of pandemic-induced lockdowns was certainly anticlimatic as schools shut down a mere 15 days after reopening on November 1. Schools have also expressed concerns about the preparation for the ongoing CBSE and ICSE board exams, and said they will be hampered without physical classes. 

According to the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology's Air Quality Early Warning System for Delhi, the air quality is likely to remain in the "poor to moderate" category on Monday and Tuesday.

The air quality for the subsequent five days is also likely to remain in the "poor to the lower end of the very poor category", the report added.

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On Sunday, winds gusting up to 20 kilometres per hour barrelled through the city, dispersing pollutants partially and improving visibility as the  24-hour average Air Quality Index (AQI) dropped down to 349 from Saturday's 374. 

Schools were also shut in four of Haryana's districts to tackle the pollution. These were Gurugram, Faridabad, Sonipat and Jhajjar. The AQI improved marginally into the 'very poor' category for some of these districts as well on Sunday.