Ludhiana: A day after 13 class IV employees of a school at Jalandhar Bypass tested positive for Covid-19, the health department has increased the testing in private schools.
District education officer (DEO) Rajinder Kaur said, “We have already started the drive for testing in the government schools and now we will instruct the private schools too. All the teaching as well as non-teaching staff members of the government as well as private educational institutions are being tested compulsorily. We have not made the test mandatory for students, but if any student becomes the primary contact or volunteers to get tested, we will test them. Otherwise, the staff will have to get themselves tested. It is being done by the government of Punjab free of cost.”
According to her, daily hundreds of teachers are being tested in government schools, of which a few have been tested positive. “They have been isolated and we have traced their contacts and asked them to isolate themselves as well.”
Classes IX to XII had opened for students and final year students have been asked to come to classes in colleges.
The teachers said several students were attending the school without face masks and do not bother to use sanitisers. “Though the rules are stipulated on paper, the ground reality is different. Though masks are being supplied to students, they are very careless. Moreover, students — and teachers too — find it very difficult to wear a mask continuously for more than an hour in the classroom,” said a private teacher from a school situated at BRS Nagar, on condition of anonymity.
Sources said the wards of the employees too have contracted the virus. The school principal, Sister Limsi said, “The school will be closed for another few days.”
According to information from the education department, the attendance among students remained below 50% in private schools, while it was close to 60% in government schools. The figure was slightly higher in rural areas. However, the figure is expected to dwindle further in the coming days, according to sources in the education department.