By A Staff Reporter
Kathmandu, July 11: Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the government has set up quarantine and isolation facilities at the community schools across the country to accommodate people who arrived home from the COVid-19 affected countries. Around 4,500 community schools are used as quarantine facilities across the country.
But these facilities were established by ignoring its psychological impact on the teachers and staff members, who are compelled to attend the school regularly.
Teachers and other employees
of the public schools are now traumatised with a fear that they would be transmitted the virus by attending the schools.
The Ministry of Education
Science and Technology (MOEST) has directed the teachers of public schools to attend their schools from mid-June to facilitate students in alternative education.
They have been attending the schools to distribute textbooks, collecting data of students as per their access on technology and to facilitate students in learning at home through alternative modes.
Following the decision of the ministry, teachers and of public schools have been attending the schools on a regular basis. But the obligation to attend the schools has traumatised many teachers and staff.
They are worried that they might get transmitted the disease and later pass the virus to their family members.
Yam Kumari Adhikari, a teacher of Jitpur Secondary School, Ilam, said they were obliged to attend the school regularly and the fear of getting the COVID-19 triggered her mind every time she reached her school. Moreover, her house is also next to school building and she did not feel safe even at her home.
Sudarshan Kandel, a teacher
of Prabhat Secondary School, Sukranagar, Bharatpur, said only two persons are now staying at his schools’ quarantine center. But the risk of getting transmitted to the disease was always there.
He urged the local bodies to set up quarantine facilities in hotels, which were remained vacant for a long.
Similarly, Ram Bandu Subedi, education officer of Mahalaxmi Municipality of Bharatpur said the quarantine center had been set up in a different block of the school.
But teachers and staff members have been worried because the building where they have been staying shares same ground, said Subedi.
Considering the psychological impact of the teachers and staff, the local bodies should shift these quarantine facilities in some other places, he said.
Tulsi Prasad Thapaliya, director general of Central for Education Human Rights Development (CEHRD), said since the numbers of foreign returnees are slowly declining , the local administration have been gradually removing the quarantines from the school premises.
“Since the principals of many community schools are the members of quarantine management committee, the quarantine facilities were set up in the schools,” said Thapaliya.
Thapaliya said that quarantine facilities had been removed from many community schools by now.
The quarantine centers should be removed from all schools because the Ministry was preparing to reopen schools, he added. “We are asking local government to find alternative places to set up such facilities. And we hoped that the issue will be addressed soon,” said Thapaliya.
Lately, the Ministry has been holding consultations to reopen schools in low risk zone like mountainous and hilly districts as many local bodies and many schools of have been stating that they could run classes safely.
Therefore, the quarantine facilities set up in the schools would be removed within a short time, Thapaliya said.