Warangal: Teachers want to work from home

Warangal: With Covid-19 positive cases continue to mount in the region relentlessly, the teachers, who resumed duties on August 27 following the government's directive, seem to be caught between the devil's corner and the deep blue sea. Getting back to work after a lengthy layoff, teachers looked exuberant and had prepared e-content and lesson plans etc required for the online classes.

Now with the online classes already running through various digital platforms - TV, T-SAT, YouTube etc - from September 1, the onus obviously fell on teachers to monitor the efficacy of the new system and the adaptability of the students who hitherto had no such experience. 10 days into the online classes, the teachers have now started to feel the heat, especially with the high prevalence of coronavirus pandemic in the region.

With more than 300 Covid-19 positive cases reporting every day in the erstwhile Warangal district, the teachers, who were attending duties since August 27, say that there is no point in going to schools every day as the students were attending online classes.

Although the government had issued no clear orders to visit the homes of students to monitor the online classes, some of the teachers were asked to do so. The teachers in Mahabubabad alleged that the authorities had asked them to make home visits of students. It may expose them to fall prey to Covid-19, they feared.

Speaking to The Hans India, STU Warangal Urban President Ata Sadaiah, who works with the Government High School in Gopalpur, said, "Although it's necessary to monitor the online classes to know whether the students were able to follow them or not, it's not right to force teachers to attend schools every day. The teachers can monitor and clarify the doubts of the students through mobile phones."

"There is no point in going to schools when students are not around," a teacher said, on condition of anonymity, urging the government to allow them to monitor from home. He also pointed out the hiccups involved in teachers' home visits of the students. Considering the spread of Covid-19 pandemic, it's not safe at all for students and teachers, he added. He also referred to transportation problems as the TSRTC has been running less number of buses since they resumed services after the lockdown.