THREE public elementary school teachers assigned in Liloan town, northern Cebu, are now being monitored after they reportedly came in close contact with a parent who later turned out to be positive for the coronavirus disease (Covid-19).
In a report to the Department of Education-Central Visayas (DepEd 7), the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) Cebu chapter said the teachers were exposed to the Covid-19 patient during the distribution of educational modules last Aug. 18, 2020.
DepEd 7 Director Salustiano Jimenez said he informed the Schools Division Superintent concerned to check on the ACT report and its veracity.
Jimenez also reminded all teachers and non-teaching personnel to adhere to health protocols for their own safety.
ACT-Cebu Chapter representative Antonia Lim said the three teachers who come from the same school are now considered persons under monitoring.
They have yet to undergo swab tests for Covid-19, but they are already experiencing itchy throat while one of them has a cough.
“It took a few days (since their direct contact with the parent) that they discovered the parent was Covid positive,” Lim said in a mix of Cebuano and English.
One of the teachers, a regional council member of ACT Central Visayas, reportedly requested to be quarantined at school to prevent spreading the virus in their homes should they also test positive.
But the school principal, according to the ACT report, denied the request as this may lead to a further outbreak among other reporting teachers who are busy with the module segregation.
Lim said the affected teachers are now undergoing quarantine in their respective homes.
Abandonment
ACT Secretary General Raymond Basilio, in a statement, said while the concerns raised by the teachers and the principal were valid, DepEd’s “abandonment” had left them “at an impasse.”
“Where is DepEd’s institutional accountability and support for teachers and staff?” asked Basilio.
“While ground personnel were left to fend for themselves, DepEd allowed half of National Capital Region schools to be used as quarantine facilities until December, leading to the displacement of teachers—infected or otherwise,” he added.
He said the teachers’ direct exposure to an infected parent highlights the risks associated with module distribution, largely due to the lack of preventive measures in schools.
Safety measures
The group called on the National Government to provide resources to enable the implementation of adequate safety measures.
Basilio noted safety measures are still “glaringly absent” in schools even as teachers, staff, and parents are expected to regularly meet for module preparation, collection and distribution, among other things.
DepEd, he said, has not even provided school personnel with the most basic personal protective equipment (PPE) such as face masks, face shields and gloves for teachers handling the distribution of modules.
“How will we ensure that the modules had not been contaminated by either undetected infected teachers or parents?” asked Basilio.
He said schools currently have to stretch their small Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses allocation and gather donations from the private sector to acquire not only PPE, alcohol and foot baths, but also school supplies like printers, bond paper and ink.
He said the surging number of Covid-19 cases in the country calls for at least one functional clinic and nurse, as well as enough sanitation facilities and personnel in every school.
Currently, teachers are still expected to be clinic-teachers despite the lack of medical training and, in many reports to ACT, teachers are also the ones disinfecting school facilities, Basilio said.
He added that the current health crisis calls for the protection and more benefits for education frontliners, which should include hazard pay, leave benefits and full medical treatment subsidy.
He said DepEd should also consider looking for state-sponsored isolation facilities for suspected and confirmed Covid-19 positive personnel.
The group also recommended a top-level coordination between DepEd and the Department of the Interior and Local Government on the possible arrangement or tasking in the release and collection of the self-learning modules. (WBS)