211 teachers test positive after schools reopen in Karnataka

Bengaluru, Jan 9: As many as 211 teachers in the state have tested positive for the novel Coronavirus after schools in Karnataka reopened last week.

The number touched 236 after several non-teaching staff also tested positive. The government had mandated that all teaching and non-teaching staff must undergo a COVID-19 test before educational institutions reopened, according to health officials.

In Uttara Kannada district, 20 people, including teachers and non-teaching staff have tested positive for the coronavirus while in Belagavi 19 teachers and six non-teaching staff tested positive. In Shivamogga, Hassan and Mandya Districts, a total of 39 teachers have tested positive for the Pandemic. In Tumakuru, Mysuru, Chamrajnagar and Gadag, as many as 45 teachers have tested positive along with two non-teaching staff.

However, in Chikkaballapur, Bellary and Madhugiri Districts, none of the teaching or non-teaching staff members are affected. Schools for class 10th and 12th reopened on January 1 after about a nine-month break due to lockdown imposed following the spread of Coronavirus in March 2020.

The students were allowed to enter the schools after undergoing temperature checks, wearing face masks and sanitisation of their hands. Students who wished to attend classes in school were also asked to carry letters of consent from their parents.

Regular classes for Class 11 students are expected to resume from January 15. The Vidyagama scheme for students of Classes 6 to 9 is also expected to resume shortly. Schools were reopened under directions of a Technical Advisory Committee and Health Department.

Meanwhile, after a gap of nine months since the coronavirus induced lockdown, regular classes for first and second-year college students would resume after January 14. Announcing this by Deputy Chief Minister Dr CN Ashwath Narayan, who holds the Higher Education portfolio, asked the Vice Chancellors of government and private Universities, senior officials of several departments, including that of higher education, to suggest a date for resumption of the classes.

The Vice-Chancellors attended a meeting convened by him yesterday and all of them were unanimous that the government should start the offline classes. Mr Narayan asked them to suggest a date and based on their submission, the date to start classes would be announced. This applies to first and second-year students of degree, post-graduation, diploma and engineering.

The offline or regular classes for Class 10, second-year pre-university, final-year degree and postgraduate students have already started and are running successfully. By taking this success into account, it has been decided to open the remaining classes also, he said.

Regarding the students’ bus passes, Mr Narayan said the confusion would be cleared soon by discussing with another Deputy Chief Minister Laxman Savadi, who holds the transport portfolio.