Worried, they join EC training

Amid fear of coronavirus spread, teachers in port city yesterday started participating in a training session to discharge duties at polling centres as presiding, assistant presiding and polling officers for the upcoming Chattogram City Corporation polls.

According to election officials, the training will be conducted in five phases till March 28, which includes training for vote casting official, demonstrators, sessions for demo votes, mock voting on EVM (electronic voting machine) and distribution of election-related materials.

Even though the government has declared shutdown of educational institutions and discouraged social gatherings as precautionary measures against the possible spread of coronavirus in the country, the Election Commission (EC) is planning to hold the polls on March 29.

This correspondent spoke to over 10 teachers of various educational institutions who expressed their concerns, saying such gatherings and interactions with a large number of people may put their lives at risk.

Some of the teachers said they have no other option but to comply with the government order as they are government employees. They urged the authorities concerned to defer the polls date.

"What choice do we have? We have to accept the decision and work amid risk," said a teacher, requesting anonymity.

Munir Hossain, assistant returning officer of Chattogram Regional Election Office, told The Daily Star that the training started yesterday morning and continued till 5pm. "We are going to train up 16,000 teachers of schools and colleges as polling officers in phases," he said.

Asked about fear of coronavirus among teachers, he evaded the question and hung up.