THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: As many as 1,495 teachers and 212 non-teaching staff in government and aided schools have not yet taken a dose of Covid-19 vaccination.
General education minister V Sivankutty said many teachers of late have shed their vaccination hesitancy after the government warned them of consequences. The minister, however, did not divulge the details of the teachers as he had earlier claimed.
“Those who have not taken Covid-19 vaccine on medical grounds should produce valid medical certificates to prove the same. They should submit such documents to the respective school authorities. Others will have to produce an RT-PCR certificate weekly. In case some teachers continue to remain unvaccinated, they would be asked to go on compulsory leave without salary,” Sivankutty said here on Saturday.
The minister had earlier said that nearly 5,000 teachers and non-teaching staff have not taken the vaccine.
To a question on why he has not revealed the teachers’ names as warned earlier, Sivakutty said many teachers have taken the vaccine in the recent days, and the government did not mean to demoralise or shame them publicly.
The district-wise list of unvaccinated teachers released by the minister indicated that the largest number of unvaccinated teachers and non-teachers are in Malappuram, Kozhikode and Thrissur districts.
While 184 teachers and 17 non-teaching staff in schools in Malappuram are unvaccinated, the number of teachers unvaccinated in Kozhikode is 136 and non-teaching staff is 15. As many as 103 teachers and 21 non-teaching staff in the Thrissur district are yet to receive vaccination. Ernakulam and Thiruvananthapuram districts have 89 and 87 unvaccinated teachers, respectively. Districts with the least number of unvaccinated teachers are Wayanad (25), Kasaragod (32), Idukki (36) and Pathanamthitta (40).
The maximum number of unvaccinated teachers are in LP/UP and high schools (1,066). This is followed by 200 teachers in higher secondary and 229 teachers in vocational higher secondary schools. In total, 1,707 teachers and non-teaching staff in government and aided schools are unvaccinated.
