The government will consider opening up access to the Covid-19 vaccine to all teachers in the state, Education Minister Lahkmen Rymbui said today.
This was suggested in a meeting between the Education Department and the heads of educational institutions, held today, as teachers come into close quarters with children every day.
“Many of the heads of institutions have expressed that teachers should be vaccinated and the Education Department has communicated this to the Health Department,” Rymbui told reporters in the evening.
The minister also informed that schools were unanimous in continuing with the present system for Classes 11 and 12.
Schools in Shillong are currently holding classes on alternate days for different classes and sections in order to keep the number of students on campus down in light of the pandemic.
At the upper primary level (Classes 6-8), Rymbui said that a majority of the institutions felt that the present arrangement is satisfactory.
“There is a divided opinion regarding nursery to Class 5. But they also observed that the present arrangement is good because the online option is not feasible even in the urban areas,” Rymbui added.
Principal of St Edmund’s College, Sylvanus Lamare, said that his institute is holding classes in a blended format (online and offline).
Lamare informed that at the meeting he has suggested that certain lessons can be taught by using the medium of television.
“But they should make it in such a way that it interests the students,” the principal said.
Father Richard Majaw, Vicar General of the Shillong Archdiocese, said that in-person classes should be held as far as possible in the lower grades for the students’ benefit.
Meanwhile, R Thangkhiew, Principal of Mairang Science College, said that the general opinion was that Classes 1 to 5 should not be suspended, even if lessons are only held once or twice a week.
“If classes are cut off we don’t know what will happen to the students. We saw last year how much the children suffered,” Thangkhiew said.
