PANAJI
Vaccination would now be made mandatory in Goa for the staff of educational institutions in view of the anticipated third Covid wave. If such personnel do not comply, they will not be allowed at the workplace till such time they take the vaccine doses to keep the safety of children.
After the Chief Minister hinted at this decision, parents, teachers and students came out with multiple responses “ some supported it wholeheartedly while others were indifferent or had arguments to prove it as not necessary.
A parent from Porvorim, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said, "Since March 2020, students have not attended their classes physically. In this situation, when there’s no student-teacher contact. The government’s decision to make vaccination mandatory for teachers would be appropriate if schools were to reopen in the near future. If the third wave hits, anyway, the schools will remain shut and classes will be conducted online, so how’s it going to help, if the teachers take or don’t take the vaccine."
"Stopping the school staff from entering the school premises until they take the jab seems awkward and not legal," pointed out another parent from Raia.
Pointing out that he has not seen the face of his school since March last year, Alister Torres, a class IX student from Loyola High School, admitted that he or his classmates have not met their teachers face to face in person for over a year now.
“I was in class VII when the lockdown was announced. I studied online from home for the entire academic year 2020-21 when I was in class VIII. Now I have passed and am in class IX. It’s our parents who drop our assignments in drop boxes kept on the school gate,” Alister said.
Trupti Alve, mother of a teenager from Margao, supports the drive to vaccinate everyone above 18, including teachers, calling it a great initiative. "As a matured person everyone should follow every safety measure sincerely and teach kids to follow them too," she said. Trupti’s husband Mitendra Alve, a computer science teacher himself, reasons that he would still not allow his child to go to school if he or she is below 18 years of age, irrespective of the fact that the teachers are vaccinated or not.
“I found online mode of teaching more comfortable and economical. The only hurdle is connectivity. If the connectivity is good everything is equivalent to physical classes at least with my subject, computer science,” Mitendra said.
A teacher from a government school at Vasco opined, “Vaccinated teachers will not ensure kids’ safety in the complete sense. It’s a partial protection. Each kid is a potential carrier through themselves or through their non-vaccinated parents, neighbours etc. Making vaccination compulsory is needed, however, I don’t think it’s legally tenable. It’s a subtle grounding for reopening which can prove dangerous.”
Sanjay Talwadkar, a retired teacher from Quepem, said, “If all staff in the school have taken the vaccine, there’s no problem sending the students to school. But what about parents who have not taken the vaccine? They also come in contact with the students on campus. One has to think about this angle too.”
A social activist from Ponda Anita Kavlekar welcomed the move. “These are steps towards making the State fully vaccinated in the long run and reach the target by October. Making vaccines mandatory for frontline warriors like teachers is for their own safety. Most of them travel by public transport and are exposed to the disease. If they are vaccinated, at least they get cover and protection.” Anita’s daughter Prajakta, a performing arts teacher at GVM BEd College, has been taking online classes for teachers since last year’s lockdown. As the mother-daughter admits that it’s for their own safety that school staff “ be it teaching or non-teaching, should step forward to get vaccinated.
