GUWAHATI, Aug 24 - When the Education Department has asked teachers to rejoin duty on September 1, COVID care and testing centres set up in a number of schools in the State have left the teachers worried for their safety.
Though the teachers have been asked to report for duty, no decision has been taken yet on resuming classes. General Secretary of Assam State Primary Teachers Association (ASPTA) Ratul Chandra Goswami said that COVID care and testing centres have been set up in around 40 per cent of the lower primary schools in the State.
�These schools are mostly located in rural areas. If the government really wants to resume academic activities from next month, then these COVID centres should be urgently shifted from the schools. Moreover, every school campus needs to be properly sanitized before teachers return to work,� Goswami said.
Criticising the government, he said Education Minister Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma only asked the teachers to join duty but no step has been taken yet to sanitize the school campuses. He said in urban areas teachers can sanitize the school premises on their own by buying disinfectants, but it may not be possible in rural areas where disinfectants are not readily available.
