‘Passion, Not Job’: COVID +ve Teacher Takes Online Classes in Leh

Leh Math teacher Kifayat Hussain had tested positive for coronavirus on 3 May.

Photo: Facebook

When Math teacher Kifayat Hussain decided to get tested for COVID-19, earlier this month, he was not expecting the result to come back positive.

But since his village, in the hilly Union Territory of Ladakh, was declared a containment zone following a number of active cases, he thought of getting tested for it anyway – as he did not want to put his students at risk whenever the school reopened.

On 3 May, Hussain tested positive for the virus. However, that did not stop him from carrying out his duties, as he decided to go ahead and conduct online classes for his students.

According to a Facebook Post by Lamdon Model Senior Secondary School, Leh, Kifayat is now teaching online from the hospital. For this, he follows a combination of Zoom classes with YouTube videos that he records and uploads from the hospital.

Although apprehensive about the Leh administration’s response, Kifayat went ahead with his proposal, which the school says was supported promptly by Rigzin Samphel IAS, Commissioner Secretary UT Administration. The Lamdon authority also created a teaching setup in his hospital room for this purpose.

“Teaching is not just my job, but my passion. I was concerned that students will be left behind in their studies and it will be a burden for them if I cover the syllabus in a hurry in the future. I had enough strength to teach, so I thought I should give it a try.”

Kifayat told to the school

But, much like other teachers across the country, Kifayat often faces internet connectivity issues. He told the school that while most families of COVID-19 positive patients are scared of their names being revealed, “his family did not pay heed and understood my passion to teach.”