K-P bans unvaccinated teachers, school staff

Banned teachers to have their salaries deducted apart from being marked absent from duty

PESHAWAR: The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Elementary and Secondary Education Department has banned the entry of teachers and other staff into schools and offices without Covid-19 vaccination certificate.

The heads of the schools and offices have strictly been directed to follow these directive and do not allow unvaccinated staff and teachers. They have been warned that in the event of any violation, action would be taken against the school and office heads.

In a notification the department noted that despite clear-cut orders for teachers and staff to get themselves vaccinated as soon as possible, most of the teachers and clerks were not interested in vaccination and there is a risk of the spread of Covid-19 through these unvaccinated persons, especially teachers.

An official on the condition of anonymity told The Express Tribune that teachers and other school staff have been once again directed to get themselves vaccinated as soon as possible otherwise they are not allowed in the school and offices.

“It was decided that all the staff of the education department will be vaccinated and once they are vaccinated all the schools will be opened but now it has been discovered that majority of the teachers and staffers have not received even their first dose of the vaccine which means that they are not willing to vaccinate.

This attitude is not acceptable as it poses a serious health risk to all,” said the official, adding that is why as a first step such teachers and staffers have been barred from entering schools.

Furthermore, unvaccinated staff will not be allowed entry and they will be marked absent from duty and will not be paid their salaries.

“As teachers they should be more responsible people of society and act as role models but unfortunately this is not the case. They have shown resistance to vaccination and this attitude is neither acceptable nor will be tolerated,” said the official.

It is worth mentioning here that the Elementary and Secondary Education Department is the largest department of the province with 165,000 employees which is roughly 50 per cent of all the government employees of the province.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 9th, 2021.