Concerns arise as teachers made Corona Street Warriors

Chennai

After the board examinations and other academic activities were cancelled, the teachers have no immediate work assigned to them. Thus, they were engaged in different works to assist the fight against the pandemic.

A senior official from the Directorate of School Education told DT Next that with Chennai being the hotspot, more manpower was required. Therefore, teachers have been deployed as “Corona Street Warriors”.

“During the first phase, about 1,000 teachers from government and aided schools have been enumerating the occupants of the houses under quarantine,” he added. The teachers would be put on rotation basis, and would have go to their assigned containment zone and collect the details families of the patients.

“In the second round, they will have to repeat it in the same area after a week,” he said, adding that the details they submit would be updated in the official record regularly. The official added that the Corona Street Warrior work of the teachers would continue either till normalcy was restored or the schools are reopened.

However, not all support the move. Tamil Nadu Teachers Association president PK Ilamaran said engaging teachers for this job was very risky, as they have to go to houses in containment zones and interact directly with the residents.

“Teachers do not have experience in such jobs; it should have been entrusted on health workers who know how to deal with the situation. Most of the teachers deployed as “Corona Street Warriors” complain that they are not provided basic gear like proper facemasks or even sanitisers,” he said.