After government school teachers began reporting to oversee digital classes and to perform door-to-door surveys, at least 500 teachers have got tested positive for Covid-19. According to the teachers, only in the Siddipet district in Hyderabad, more than a hundred teachers have tested positive. In Jagitial, about 90 teachers have tested positive in the past week and in Hyderabad district, 30 teachers are said to have tested positive after August 27.

A 52-year-old teacher, who tested positive daid, “I have not stepped out of the house since March, until the government asked teachers to report to duties from August 27. So, I should have contracted the virus at the school.” She added that the school she works for was being used as a Covid-19 centre and had medical waste lying around.

Teachers questioned why the government did not make it mandatory for them to submit the Covid-19 negative report before joining duties.

 N Brahmachary, president, Telangana Progressive Teachers Federation, Medchal-Malkajgiri district, which has seen at least 43 positive cases among teachers in the past one week said, “When they got each and every MLA tested before the start of the assembly session and allowed only those who got negative into the house, why was the same procedure not followed for teachers? Why are they asking us to put our lives at risk?”

Some teachers also added that many of their colleagues became Covid-19 positive after they attended Haritha Haram programmes and books distribution. They said that after August 27, the situation has become much worse. They also questioned why the government is not giving them work from home option, when they can do the same work from anywhere. They said the government should at least arrange for those teachers, who are attending duties at schools, which were earlier used as testing centres, or who got in touch with teachers who tested positive, to get tested as their chances of contracting coronavirus are much higher.

Source: Times of India

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