KUCHING: Sarawak Teachers’ Union (STU) has seconded the call for teachers to be prioritised for vaccination against Covid-19.
Its president Adam Prakash Abdullah said such call was timely because the teachers are also facing a critical situation, especially in putting children’s education back on track.
“We want to spend as much time with our students in the school. Online learning raises a lot of problems which are deeply felt by the parents, teachers and students.
“Online learning might be easy to adopt for the higher education but definitely not at the school level, with inadequate equipment or absence of suitable apparatus such as Internet coverage.
“So, I hope teachers will be prioritised for vaccination so that we can reopen the schools and get back on track to give the best education for the school children,” he told reporters at a press conference after the 25th Biennial Delegates’ Conference held at Penview Hotel here on Sunday (Dec 20).
The call was first declared by United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) headed by its executive director Henrietta Fore who called for teachers to be prioritised to receive Covid-19 vaccine, once frontline health personnel and high-risk populations are vaccinated.
“This will help protect teachers from the virus, allow them to teach in person, and ultimately keep schools open.
“While decisions about vaccine allocation ultimately rest with governments, the consequences of extended missed or impaired education are steep, especially for the most marginalised.
“The longer children remain out of school, the less likely they are to return, and the more difficult it is for their parents to resume work,” she said in a statement dated Dec 15.
