Two students adjusting their face masks before entering the school compound. – File photo
KUCHING (April 28): More than 1,000 schools in Sarawak’s Covid-19 red zones which have been ordered to close since April 20 will only reopen on June 14, said Education, Science and Technological Research Minister Datuk Amar Michael Manyin Jawong.
He told an online news portal this decision was made by federal Senior Minister of Education Datuk Dr Radzi Jidin following an online meeting yesterday which was also attended by Deputy Chief Minister and Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) chairman Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas
According to Manyin, Radzi had decided to let the schools remain shut as it would only be five schooling days before the schools start their Hari Raya Aidilfitri holidays from May 8 to 16.
The students were supposed to return to class on May 3 after the two-week closure order imposed by the Sarawak government to curb the spread of Covid-19 infections in schools in red zone districts.
With Radzi’s earlier announcement on Monday that school lessons will be held online for two weeks after the Hari Raya holidays from May 17 to 28 and the mid-term holidays for two weeks starting on the next day (May 29), this means that affected schools in the state’s red zones will stay closed until June 13.
As such, Manyin said it will be a long holiday for the 372,433 students and 30,435 teachers in the 863 primary and 146 secondary schools that have been closed..
“During this long holiday, my Ministry will meet with the State Education Department, SDMC and State Health Department to discuss what should be our way forward,” he said.
He added that the way forward could be to follow the Ministry of Education’s (MOE) list of guidelines and standard operating procedures (SOP) it had drawn up but adjusted to suit the situation in Sarawak.
On April 19, Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Openg had announced that all schools in Sarawak’s Covid-19 red zones have been ordered to close for two weeks effective April 20.
Abang Johari explained he made the decision after studying reports that many Covid-19 cases have emerged in schools.
On the meeting with Radzi, Manyin said the MOE has suggested for Sarawak to consider adopting the policy of closing school for a minimum of two days when a positive case is reported.
“The state government adopted a proactive policy in ‘taking no chances’ while the federal government adopted a reactive policy—act when only there is an infection.
“While we are not taking chances and closing all schools within the red zone even if there are no reported infections in the schools, the MOE adopts a policy that if there is one reported positive case, the school should close for a minimum of two days.
“That’s the guidelines they (MOE) want us to consider,” he added, explaining that one day would be for sanitation and the other would be for situation evaluation.
The closure will also be dependent on the report of the District Health Officer.
Manyin said Radzi had asked Sarawak to reconsider the MOE’s policy as the way forward after May 28 because he was concerned about the blanket closure of schools in areas with high number of infections could cause students to miss school for up to a year.
Manyin said although the Sarawak side had explained that the spike would have been worse had the schools were not closed, the minister was also right when he said he was concerned about the consequences of long school closure on students’ education.
“He (Radzi) also argued that the movement of students could be more controlled if they are in school. He said they would be confined to the school. If they are not in school, they could be more mobile, even going from one kampung to another,” Manyin added.
Radzi had on Monday (April 26) announced that school lessons will be held online for two weeks after the Hari Raya holidays—from May 17 to 28—through home-based teaching and learning methods (PdPR).
The decision to close schools was to reduce the risk of Covid-19 infection after the holidays and schools will remain closed for the term holidays from May 29 to June 13.
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