KATHMANDU, FEBRUARY 9
The Ministry of Education, Science, and Technology has written a letter to the Ministry of Health and Population urging it to prioritise vaccination against COVID to teachers and officials of schools, colleges, and universities.
A secretary-level meet of the education ministry today urged the home ministry to carry out vaccination on priority basis.
Earlier, various organisations related to the education sector like National Teachers' Federation, Nepal Association of Guardians, Private and Boarding Schools' Organisation Nepal, N-PABSON, and other similar associations had led a delegation to Education Minister Krishna Gopal Shrestha asking him to prioritised inoculation against COV- ID-19 for academicians. Education stakeholders said that since the government had told them that it would provide vaccination on a priority basis, they wanted teachers to be vaccinated soon.
Baburam Thapa, chair of NTF, had asked Minister Shrestha to act promptly to vaccinate teachers.
"Teachers, who come in close contact with hundreds of students on a daily basis, were frontline workers. Therefore, teachers should be prioritised for vaccination as the move would also save the lives of children," Thapa said.
Similar demands were made by Tikaram Puri, chair of PABSON, and Rituraj Sapkota, chair of N-PABSON. Replying to the queries of stakeholders, Minister Shrestha had promised to request the government body concerned to fulfil their demands as soon as possible.
The government, from yesterday, started the second phase of vaccination, giving vaccines to journalists, expats and officials of foreign embassies working in the country. Earlier, the government had started the first phase of vaccination with health professionals and sanitation workers.
The Education and Human Development Centre under the Ministry of Education has already written to the education departments of all 753 local governments to send details of teachers in the local levels.
A version of this article appears in the print on February 10, 2021, of The Himalayan Times.
