Going beyond the call of duty: Delhi govt school teachers earn praise from Sisodia

New Delhi: From tracing students who could not be contacted to sending worksheets to their neighbours via phone and helping out at quarantine centres, several Delhi government school teachers turned "corona warriors" as the schools were shut in view of the COVID-19 pandemic and earned praise from Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on the eve of teacher's day for stepping up their efforts and going beyond their responsibilities during the pandemic.

Sarita Rani Bhardwaj, a teacher at a government school in Paschim Vihar, found it extremely difficult to trace the location of her students after a nationwide lockdown was announced in March. "I asked the ration delivery person to get me the contact details of their neighbours. I called them and started sending worksheets on their phones. When I got to know about students who have moved to different cities, I got books and study material sent through a courier service at their new places," Bhardwaj said.

Alok Kumar Mishra, a social science teacher at the Government Senior Secondary School, Mangolpuri, is serving at a quarantine centre in Narela, besides taking online classes.

"I am working from a make-shift control room outside the flats being utilised as quarantine centres. I answer the phone calls for those in quarantine, solve their queries and tend to their needs. I work in the day and night shifts alternatively. Working this way has given me a great deal of satisfaction as I am being able to help my fellow citizens. I work on videos to be sent to my students in the other shift," he said. Similarly, Rajendra Prasad Sharma, a teacher from the Government Boys Senior Secondary School, Jharoda Kalan, is performing dual duties.

Neena, an English teacher at the Sarvodaya Kanya Vidyalaya, Prashant Vihar, ensured that her students participated in activities for their emotional well-being, besides focussing on their studies.

"During these uncertain times, it is normal to get depressed and sad. I ensured that no child missed out on the daily mindfulness activity, which we used to conduct as part of the happiness curriculum," she said.

"It was refreshing to see how my students understood the importance of freedom after they were confined to their homes, during the pandemic, which led them to empathize with animals kept under captivation," Neena added.

Ravinder Kaur, a science teacher of the Kautilya Sarvodaya Bal Vidyalaya, started taking video classes much before the online classes were announced by the government. "I was already done with six chapters when the material for the online classes started coming in," she said.