Tamil Nadu teachers urge state government to allow rotational presence of faculty in colleges

Tamil Nadu college teachers have urged the state government to allow them to come to the institution on a rotational basis as COVID-19 cases are surging in the state. The college teachers said that several teachers are getting infected with the disease and a teacher had passed away on Tuesday, January 11, due to the virus. The colleges in the state are closed for students but the teachers have to go to the campus daily. The teachers are worried about their health as many of them have tested positive.

A teacher at Madurai Government Arts College told IANS, "Teachers are now forced to come to colleges even though there are no classes for students. Most of the teachers have taken both the vaccines but, despite that, they are contracting COVID-19. Several teachers have comorbidities and they are being admitted to hospitals once they are affected by the virus. The government must think of our safety and should take some measures to relieve us."

The teachers said that online classes have also been discontinued but they have to go to the colleges just for the sake of duty and because the government is asking them to do so.  Most of the teachers are travelling in crowded public transport like buses and suburban trains exposing themselves to the virus.

In Chennai, the teachers are worried about the high rate of COVID-19 infection in the city. Chennai, on Tuesday, recorded a 18.1 per cent test positivity rate which is much higher than the 10.3 per cent in Tamil Nadu.

A teacher at the Government Arts College, Chennai told IANS, "The government seems to be careless about the teachers' health as most of them have comorbidities and have to travel in public transport where they can be exposed to the virus. I request the government to at least give the liberty to reach school on a rotational basis."

The Tamil Nadu Government College Teachers' Association, however, said that with all the government office staff reaching their offices, the association cannot urge the government to provide relief to the teachers from going to college.

However, the position taken by the Association was rejected by the teachers. A teacher, working in a government college in Chennai, on condition of anonymity told IANS, "The Teachers association is a useless body. They should have intervened in this matter. Instead, this organisation is trying to belittle teachers. We are not like government office staff, if there are no classes for students, why should teachers come to college. Our profession is to teach students and if it is not happening, then why waste our time and get exposed to the virus?"