MCD gets cracking,asks officers,school teachers to check swine flu spread

“We have informed DEOs and teachers will remain vigilant now,” MCD education committee chairperson Prithviraj Sahni said. “We have asked them (teachers) to keep a vigil in classrooms and report any case of cough,cold or any other flu-like symptom.”

No H1N1 influenza case has yet been reported from the city’s municipal schools,and Sahni said the precautionary measures have been put in place though “very few children from our schools will come in contact with any person who has travelled abroad”.

The DEOs have been asked to inform principals of schools in their zones and the principals will further inform teachers,Sahni said. “We hope all schools will get the information by this Saturday.”

There are 1,752 MCD-run primary schools in the city,with 9.5 lakh students.

Sahni said if any student is found to have flu-like symptoms,the teachers will inform his/her parents and then the child will be taken to RML Hospital. “Classmates of the suspected patient will be asked to stay at home for a week,” he added.

The move was greeted with a pinch of salt by municipal school teachers. Vibha Singh,general secretary of MCD Teachers Association,said: “Teachers are made to do every job except teach. We are made to prepare bills,do other office work that school instructors should do.

“It is totally impossible to compare an MCD school with a private school.”

The municipality trains one teacher in each of its schools to administer first-aid under the School Heath Scheme. “They (teachers) can do it if they want to,but we are doing a tightrope walking this time,” Delhi Health Minister Kiran Walia said.