New Delhi: Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Wednesday reviewed the vaccination of teachers and other school staff, and accorded priority to the work, a day after the school secretary met state and union territory officials.
“Education Minister Shri @dpradhanbjp reviewed the status of schools reopening across the country with senior officials of the Department of School Education & Literacy. He also took stock of the roadmap to vaccinate all teaching and non-teaching staff in schools by the month of September.
“The Government of India is prioritizing the immunization of teaching and non-teaching staff in schools across India to ensure a safe environment for the reopening of schools,” the ministry said.
The move comes a day after Union School Education Secretary Anita Karwal asked states and union territories to vaccinate all teachers and staff with at least one dose of the vaccine in September, and those who have already received the first dose. They should be fully vaccinated within this month.
Karwal held a meeting with state education and health officials on school safety, and asked health and education officials in the states to prepare a district-level roadmap for achieving the results. The education ministry’s regular review comes as most states reopen physical schools in a staggered manner.
“During the discussion the Secretary, Department of School Education and Literacy (DOSEL) advised all the States and Union Territories to complete the first dose of vaccination for all teaching and non-teaching staff during the month of September 2021 and those teaching and A spokesman for the non-education ministry said on Tuesday that teaching staff who have received the first dose should strictly adhere to the second dose.
Further, the Secretary advised the Health and Education Secretaries of all the States and Union Territories to jointly prepare a roadmap at the district level for immunization of all teaching and non-teaching staff. The Ministry’s spokesperson said that the Department of School Education and Literacy is also receiving information on immunization of teachers from the States and Union Territories through the tracker on a weekly basis.
There are at least 9.4 million school teachers and several lakh non-teaching workers in India. Though the Center did not declare teachers as frontline workers, some states vaccinated teachers on a priority basis in view of their role in the resumption of physical classes.
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