Karnataka's Primary and Secondary Education Minister, on Wednesday, has written to the Health Minister asking that teachers be considered COVID warriors and be given vaccination on priority. Suresh Kumar has said that he has requested the health minister, Dr K Sudhakar, to consider vaccinating teachers before the beginning of the next academic year. "I have discussed about this issue with the Chief Minister, B S Yeddiyurappa and he has given his nod. They will discuss and decide on how it will be carried out. This will be a good move to keep children safe before the third wave of COVID-19 hits us."
The minister also announced that the government will be providing financial assistance and compensation to the families of teachers who died due to COVID-19, while on duty. He said, "I have told the department to collect the data on number of teachers who expired due to COVID-19. We will be allocating them funds from the Teachers' Welfare Fund."
According to the Department of Public Instruction, Karnataka has lost over 268 teachers to COVID-19 since March 2020. While 183 teachers were from primary schools, 49 teachers were from secondary school and in aided schools, the number of teachers who died in primary section were 13 and 19 in secondary section and four headmasters also.
During the meeting with department officials, Suresh Kumar has asked them to finish all the paperwork relating to transfers and appointments during the lockdown. "We have decided to start the transfer and appointment process soon after the schools open. Many teachers have high hopes about their postings and we too want to fulfill our promises on time. Hence, I have instructed the department officials to complete the process and keep every document ready during the lockdown period," he said.
