As schools and pre-university colleges in Karnataka are all set to reopen on Friday after a span of nine-and-a-half months, several teachers and non-teaching staff may not be able to attend classes as they are not willing to get tested for COVID-19.
According to the Department of Public Instruction (DPI), all teachers and non-teaching staff have to mandatorily get tested for COVID-19 and can attend classes only after they get a negative report for the RT-PCR test.
On Friday, classes 10 and 12 will be held. The Vidyagama programme, which was stalled in October, will also be restarted for students of classes 6 to 9.
D. Shashi Kumar, State general secretary of the Associate Management of Primary and Secondary Schools in Karnataka, said many teachers are reluctant to undergo COVID-19 tests fearing consequences. “In many other schools, the staff have taken the COVID-19 test, but they are waiting for results and will not be able to attend classes if their results do not come by Friday,” he said.
Based on the response to these classes, the State government will take a call on whether other classes can be reopened on January 15.
Primary and Secondary Education Minister S. Suresh Kumar appealed to parents to send their wards to school without any fear. “Along with academics of children, their health is also very important. So parents also should keep an eye on the health of their wards and avoid sending them if there are any symptoms,” he said, urging parents to watch out for symptoms such as cold, cough or fever in their children.
The Minister also directed the school managements to assign one teacher to observe the health of the children. He said that if children have any of these symptoms, they should be subjected to detailed health examination.
