A ride to safety Uber and UNESCO are coming together to offer a ‘Free rides for teachers’ vaccination’ campaign
Eric Falt to provide teachers with the means to travel to the vaccination centres in The world is not yet out of the CO- a safe manner while offsetting the VID-19 pandemic, which continues to costs of traveling long distances. take a high toll on populations and The initiative offers 1,00,000 rides economies. This unprecedented to 25,000 teachers to and from vacci- health crisis has also severely impact- nation centres to get the two vaccine ed the gains made in the education doses. The offer will be implemented sector over the last few years. In In- in Chennai, Coimbatore and Tiruchi- dia alone, 1.5 million schools shut rapalli in Tamil Nadu. The rides will down in 2020, affecting 320 million be made available via a promotional learners and impacting their educa- code communicated to the teachers tion, protection and well-being. with a detailed pictorial brochure to Throughout this pandemic, the ex- help them download the application ceptional effort undertaken by teach- and use the code. ers must be highlighted. Using the re- sources available to them, Indian Global partnerships teachers mobilised as one and have The impact of the pandemic across remained on the front-lines of educa- the globe necessitates a coordinated tion to ensure continuity of learning, response. Last year, UNESCO often against formidable odds, even launched the Global Education Coali- though the pandemic claimed the tion (GEC), a platform for collabora- lives of many of them. tion to protect the right to education As the country steps up its efforts during the pandemic and beyond. to tackle the devastating effects of the The coalition brings together more second wave of COVID-19, the nation- than 175 members from the UN fami- al vaccination campaign has as- ly, civil society, academia, and the sumed greater importance than ever private sector focusing on three key before, so that we can finally move to issues, namely connectivity, teach- a ‘new normal’. There is an urgent ers, and gender to ensure continuous need to better recognise teachers as access to education for all. front-line workers and prioritise As we now begin to re-imagine them in the vaccination campaign. education in a post-COVID-19 world, While this has already been done we must remember that renewed by many State governments, the mo- cooperation between governments del should be replicated nationwide. and the private sector can go a long This will not only speed up the reo- way in combating this crisis. Through pening of schools so that students our partnership with Uber, we wish can get back to ‘in person’ learning, to acknowledge the continued com- but will also provide safety. mitment of teachers to their students and their critical role in contributing Barriers to vaccination to the achievement of the 2030 tar- Mass vaccination campaigns do not gets under Sustainable Development solely depend on the availability of Goal 4. vaccines. Such efforts are always hin- In this crisis, teachers have shown dered by a lack of suitable transport great leadership and innovation in facilities, and difficult or prolonged ensuring that #LearningNeverStops, travel time to the vaccination sites. and that no learner is left behind. Teachers, like anyone else, may be They have also helped in communi- worried about travelling long dis- cating measures that prevent the tances to the vaccination centres for spread of the virus and providing as- fear of contracting the virus on pu- sistance to ensure the mental well- blic transport and may not be able to being of all children. An accelerated access other means of conveyance. vaccination process will enable them Keeping these limitations in mind to stand fully ready when schools and to support the process of swift reopen. vaccination for teachers initiated by the government, the ride-sharing Eric Falt is the Director and Representative company Uber and UNESCO are of the UNESCO New Delhi Cluster Office coming together to offer a ‘Free rides covering Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, for teachers’ vaccination’ campaign Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka