JOIN USOver 327 Central govt employees lost lives due to Covid in 2020
Over 327 teaching and non-teaching staff employed with the Central government lost their lives to Covid-19 in the past year, the government has told the Parliament recently. The data comes in the face of an ongoing debate on the reopening of schools, as the number of the Omicron variant continues to rise steadily.
The government was replying to a question posed by RJD Rajya Sabha MP Manoj Kumar Jha and independent MP Ajit Kumar Bhuyan; both wanted to know about the number of teaching staff who died due to Covid-19, and details of the government’s compensation schemes for their families.
In reply, the ministry of education said that the 327 staff who lost their lives were employed with Kendriya Vidhyalaya (KV), Jawahar Navodaya Vidhyalaya (JNV) and Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE). The government also said that while they died due to Covid-19, “none of these teachers died during Covid duty.”
On compensation, the government said that since education is on the concurrent list of the Constitution, schools other than those owned or funded by the Central Government, are under the jurisdiction of the state governments.
The government’s data comes as officials across states debate whether reopening schools is wise as Omicron cases steadily continue to rise. States like Delhi, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, and Bihar, have reopened schools. In some states, the hybrid system, where students attend classes on certain days of the week, is in place.
While parents continue to express fears of physical classes, digital education in a country with low mobile internet penetration is tricky. In August this year, education minister Dharmendra Pradhan said that digital classes have led to 15 crore children dropping out of the education system.
In reply to another question, the government said that during the recent National Achievement Survey (NAS), aimed at evaluating students classes V, VIII and X, it found that 7.47% of children in Navodaya Vidyalayas had no access to devices and that 224 children enrolled in Kendriya Vidyalas who could not be contacted by the schools.
Dr Ameeta Wattal, chairperson and executive director at DLF Schools & Scholarship, said that she welcomes the government’s decision to vaccinate children. She said online classes have hampered the learning process of children across generations.
“We cannot shut down schools forever; only a minuscule percentage of children across the country are availing regular education. There is a fear psychosis among parents, as well as some form of laziness permeated by the work from home culture. As a result, there are huge learning gaps, and children can’t write, speak and communicate as they should,” said Wattal.
She said that, while for young school children foundational learning years are affected, for those in middle years, personal development is affected. For senior children, critical thinking is a casualty.
“Peer connectivity is different in the real and virtual world,” said Wattal.
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