Education minister V. Sivankutty has said that there are 1,707 teachers and non-teaching staff who have not taken COVID vaccines in the state yet. The minister said that the government does not want to release their names and other details at the moment. In lower primary, upper primary and high school levels 1,066 teachers have not taken the COVID vaccine. In the non-teaching category, there are 189 staff members, and the total comes to 1,255. At higher secondary level, 200 teachers have not taken vaccine, while 23 non-teaching staff are yet to get vaccinated. In the vocational higher secondary level, 229 teachers have not taken the vaccine. However, all non-teaching staff members are vaccinated in this sector.
The highest number of unvaccinated teachers are in Malappuram district, at 201, and the lowest in Wayanad district.
Sivankutty said in the first phase the education department had received a list of 5,000 unvaccinated teachers. The government gave specific instructions that teachers who have not taken COVID vaccines should not come to schools. The directive was accepted by the teaching and non-teaching staff. With the confidence level of parents increasing due to disease prevention activities undertaken by the government, the number of students coming to schools also went up significantly. Under these circumstances, there were discussions in the media about the teachers who had not taken vaccination yet. Subsequently, the government decided to make the list public, the minister said. The Central guideline clearly states that all teachers and non-teaching staff should get vaccinated. There are 47 lakh students up to plus two level. Sivankutty said the education and health of the students are of utmost importance and the government was moving forward keeping in mind these factors
