NEW DELHI: A petition in the Delhi High Court (HC) has sought to relieve all government school teachers from covid duty. It demands that all the teachers from the Directorate of Education (DoE) and Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) be immediately posted back to their respective schools.
Advocate Ashok Agarwal filed the petition on Monday, October 4, 2021. The petition stated that since September 1, physical classes from 9-12 had begun. However, the lack of physical presence of teachers was affecting over 26 lakh students.
The plea submitted that CBSE first term examination for classes 10-12 was likely to take place in November this year. It said the services of teachers for classes 9-12 were crucial at the juncture for preparing students for mid-term, pre-board and board examinations.
However, over 70 per cent of teachers of relevant classes had been put on Covid duty with the Delhi government administration. “In the past five months, MCD teachers have been posted at the SDM office. They have been making calls to people asking them about their vaccination status. They encourage people to get vaccinated. Recently, they have been asked to make 500 calls every day compared to the earlier 200 calls,” said a teacher on the condition of anonymity.
“During Covid management by Delhi government, the teachers played pivotal roles. From going to containment zones for surveys to visiting quarantine centres, home isolation facilities, oxygen supply chain and handling food and ration distribution, the teachers have risked their lives as frontline warriors,” stated the teacher.
Another MCD teacher said that many of them were deployed on multiple Covid duties. Some teachers have also been called up at civic bodies’ headquarters for online management of classes. “Children are mostly asymptomatic. They are less likely to spread the virus compared to adults. Schools are safer places for children,” added the teacher.