Covid-19 vaccination made compulsory for schools teachers in Goa: CM

Earlier this week the education department asked its staff to get vaccinated without delay

Covid-19 vaccination has been made compulsory for school teachers, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said on Wednesday. Sawant, who holds the Education portfolio, further said that the step was being taken in the interest of students.

"Our expert committee has suggested that all teachers will have to be vaccinated. The exception is for those who have medical problems. They can produce (medical) certificates and can avail of relaxation. Otherwise, there will be compulsory vaccination," the Chief Minister said.

Only those teachers, who have a pre-existing medical condition will be exempted from vaccination he also said, adding that they would have to regularly produce medical certificates to that end.

While school classes are being conducted in an online mode currently, the decreasing trend of Covid cases may lead to students returning to schools in the near future. According to the Education Department officials, vaccination of teachers would help contain the impact of the pandemic, once schools resume regular operations.

Earlier this week, the state Education Department had issued a circular urging all teaching and non-teaching staff to get themselves vaccinated without delay.

“In the interest of the health of the students all the teaching and non-teaching staff of the schools should get vaccinated urgently without any further delay. The staff who do not get vaccinated for any reason, must submit (an) RT-PCR report possibly weekly to attend their duties in the school,” state Education Director D.R. Bhagat had said in an official circular.

“The teaching and non-teaching staff members must also ensure that their family members are also vaccinated without any further delay as a precaution to prevent any transmission through them,” the circular also said.

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