Over 90% of the 18,000 teachers serving the government schools in East Godavari district have undergone the COVID-19 test preparing themselves to take classes once the academic year resumes on November 2.
East Godavari Collector D. Muralidhar Reddy has made it mandatory that every teacher should undergo the COVID-19 test to be allowed to duties, apart from implementation of the SOP (Standing Operating Procedure) like sanitisation, use of mask and physical distancing.
District Education Officer S. Abraham said that 90% of the 18,000 teachers of the government schools in the district have already undergone the COVID-19 test and the rest of them will take the same by November 2.
Private schools
In the case of private schools, guidelines are being prepared to ensure that every teacher should undergo the COVID-19 test. Nearly 10,000 teachers are in service in the private schools in the district.
“By November 2, we will ensure that all the teachers are screened for the COVID-19 both in government and private schools. The district administration cannot afford to reopen the schools without teachers being tested for the COVID-19 to prevent further spread of the disease from the teacher to students,” said Mr. Abraham.
The district authorities are yet to decide whether the schools would be reopened with half of the student strength or with limited classes per day.
"Formally, we have geared up to reopen the schools from November 2 and the a detailed plan on how to run the school is yet to be received from the higher authorities,” said Mr. Abraham.
