Mysuru: Private schools teachers insist on online classes from campus

MYSURU: After temporary suspension of the Vidyagama scheme implemented in the government schools, now the private school teachers want the state government to ban all kinds of school level activities amid the rising number of Covid infections among teachers in the state.
They allege teachers are asked to turn up for duty for online classes resulting in them catching the infection.However, department of public instruction (DPI) authorities maintained that they have not received any complaints yet.
According to the teachers, they are asked to report to the duty and asked to conduct online classes from the schools. “Many times, students and their parents also turn up seeking clarifications etc. Several teachers are getting infected in the process. However, the school managements are insisting that all teachers report for duty. It’s causing more Covid-19 cases among teachers. The government must look into the issue and ask the school managements not to insist teachers to hold online classes from schools,” said a teacher requesting anonymity.
Mysuru DDPI Uday Kumar (incharge) said the department has not received any complaints from teachers on the issue.
The private school managements are divided over the issue. According to Santosh Kumar, district representative of the Associated Managements of Primary and Secondary Schools (KAMS), several schools are now insisting that the teachers attend duty and hold classes online from the schools. “The online classes can be conducted from their home. In this hour of crisis, it’s not right to ask teachers to turn up. DPI must look into this issue,” he said.
R Manjunath Srivatsa, joint secretary, and legal cell head, the CBSE, ICSE & State Board Private School Managements Association (CISPMAM) said most of the schools are allowing the teachers to hold online classes from their residence. “Despite that, many are visiting schools due to the lack of good gadgets to record the classes at their home. Schools can’t be held responsible for that,” he said.