Bhubaneswar: Their daily work has moved beyond the classroom and into the open. From collecting data in the containment zones to distributing allowances and groceries to beneficiaries of state schemes, government teachers in Odisha are undertaking a host of services during the lockdown. And these are not all. They are also taking online classes, delivering textbooks to the homes of schoolchildren and distributing midday meal tokens.
“Hundreds of teachers are risking their lives and doing the work assigned to them, showing lot of courage. The fight against coronavirus would have been difficult without their help and support. These teachers should be considered as corona warriors,” school and mass education minister Samir Ranjan Das said.
The teachers may not be coming in direct contact with the Covid-19 patients like doctors and nurses, but they are getting exposed to the virus during their field trips.
“We are engaged in collecting swabs from households in the containment zone where a large number of Covid-19 positive cases have been detected. We were initially afraid, but we know how important this is for the state and the people,” said Madhusudan Dey, headmaster of Bomikhal High School.
Apart from conducting awareness drives on the precautionary and hygiene measures to prevent coronavirus infection, they are also making people aware about the various policy decisions taken by the government in the wake of the Covid-19 outbreak. Besides, in rural areas teachers are also in-charge of the panchayat-level Covid-19 hospitals and sample collection centres.
“We have been going to the field wearing masks and gloves and also collecting data from people and asking them about their health condition – if they have any symptoms of cough and cold or had been outside the state in the recent past or had come in contact with one who has come from outside. Most of the time people cooperate,” said Madhusmita Rout, a teacher in Jagatsinghpur.
Prakash Chandra Mohanty, the general secretary of Odisha Secondary School Teachers’ Association, said, “Teachers have always fulfilled the high expectations of the government. They have no knowledge of the disease but are still engaged in collecting samples. They are also distributing allowances and groceries among people who have returned from other states, putting their lives at risk. But when it comes to naming them as corona warriors, no one talks about them. I would request the government to acknowledge the services rendered by the teachers at the time of emergency.”
(EOM)
“Hundreds of teachers are risking their lives and doing the work assigned to them, showing lot of courage. The fight against coronavirus would have been difficult without their help and support. These teachers should be considered as corona warriors,” school and mass education minister Samir Ranjan Das said.
The teachers may not be coming in direct contact with the Covid-19 patients like doctors and nurses, but they are getting exposed to the virus during their field trips.
“We are engaged in collecting swabs from households in the containment zone where a large number of Covid-19 positive cases have been detected. We were initially afraid, but we know how important this is for the state and the people,” said Madhusudan Dey, headmaster of Bomikhal High School.
Apart from conducting awareness drives on the precautionary and hygiene measures to prevent coronavirus infection, they are also making people aware about the various policy decisions taken by the government in the wake of the Covid-19 outbreak. Besides, in rural areas teachers are also in-charge of the panchayat-level Covid-19 hospitals and sample collection centres.
“We have been going to the field wearing masks and gloves and also collecting data from people and asking them about their health condition – if they have any symptoms of cough and cold or had been outside the state in the recent past or had come in contact with one who has come from outside. Most of the time people cooperate,” said Madhusmita Rout, a teacher in Jagatsinghpur.
Prakash Chandra Mohanty, the general secretary of Odisha Secondary School Teachers’ Association, said, “Teachers have always fulfilled the high expectations of the government. They have no knowledge of the disease but are still engaged in collecting samples. They are also distributing allowances and groceries among people who have returned from other states, putting their lives at risk. But when it comes to naming them as corona warriors, no one talks about them. I would request the government to acknowledge the services rendered by the teachers at the time of emergency.”
(EOM)
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