Schools in Telangana seek vaccine for staff before reopening

As schools across Telangana are scheduled to open from February 1 for students of class 9 and above, parents and private schools’ management registered their concerns during a meeting with Education Minister Sabitha Indra Reddy Tuesday.

Apart from raising long pending issues of school fee regulation, representatives of the Hyderabad School Parents Association (HSPA) requested the minister to ensure that all teaching and non-teaching staff in schools are tested for coronavirus infection, before commencing classes.

Parents told the minister that children would be more prone to the virus and their safety would be at risk if physical classes are started. Responding to this, the minister told them that physical classes will



not be mandatory. If parents are unwilling to send their children to schools, they can continue with online classes. She assured parents that physical attendance will not be mandatory and that the students will not be detained for shortage of attendance.

Meanwhile, submitting the concerns of budget private schools in Telangana, the representatives of Telangana Recognised School Managements Association (TRSMA) requested the state government to treat teaching and non-teaching staff in schools as frontline warriors and administer them COVID-19 vaccine on a priority basis for the safety of children. They requested the government to sanitise private schools on par with government schools, in the absence of a specific budget for the purpose.