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KUALA LUMPUR: Students in Malaysia will return to schools in phases, starting with preschool children and Primary 1 and Primary 2 students on March 1.
At a press conference on Friday (February 19), Chief Education Minister Mohd Radzi Md Jidin said that the rest of the primary school students will return to schools a week later, on March 8.
“For high schools, all grade levels will attend schools on April 4 or 5 (depending on the states),” he said.
Those from Johor, Kedah, Kelantan and Terengganu will return to their classrooms on April 4, while the rest on April 5.
The dates apply to all public and private schools registered with the ministry, the minister said.
In the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, Malaysian schools have imposed standard operating procedures to ensure physical distancing between students. (Photo: Bernama)
Dr. Mohd Radzi explained that preschool-age children and first-grade students have been scheduled to start schools earlier so that teachers can familiarize their youth with the schools’ standard operating procedures (SOPs).
“This also allows teachers and parents to find the best way to handle dispersion at the end of the school day,” he added.
In the meantime, he explained that the first week of April had been selected for high school students to resume their studies due to logistics, as school exit Malaysia Certificate of Education (SPM) exams would require more space in comparison. with previous years.
Delayed from last year, the SPM exams, which will run from February 22 to March 25, would take up more space than an exam room, the minister added.
“SOPs are very detailed and strict to ensure that our children who are going to sit for PMS can do so safely and quietly.
“This time, we are also preparing alternative rooms for students to take their exams, as well as transit rooms for those who are taking maybe two jobs on the same day,” said Dr. Mohd Radzi.
Therefore, the ministry decided to resume secondary education after the mid-semester break, which starts at the end of March until the first week of April.
READ: IN FOCUS – Long-term school closings in Malaysia due to COVID-19 revolutionize the learning experience
Currently, the states of Selangor, Johor and Penang, as well as the federal territory of Kuala Lumpur, are under the movement control order (MCO), while other states are under conditional MCO or recovery MCO.
The national COVID-19 case count stood at 274,875 as of Thursday.
The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the education of Malaysian students for most of the past year, when Malaysia entered its first MCO on March 18.
Schools, along with all non-essential businesses, were closed and interstate movement stopped. The main end-of-school exams were postponed until 2021.
As a result, teachers looked to alternative solutions, such as teaching through Zoom and other video conferencing applications, to help students keep up with their studies.
Learning at home proved challenging for some, as people in rural areas face connectivity issues while less well-off families don’t have enough electronic devices for their children.
LEE: Malaysia reports a new daily maximum of 25 deaths from COVID-19
Schools later reopened in phases from mid-July onwards as the number of cases declined. On October 14, schools in Selangor and Sabah states and the federal territories of Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya were closed again due to increased infections.
This closure was then extended to the entire country from November 9, before the last day of the school year on December 17 and 18, according to the states.
This meant that the majority of students in Malaysia only attended school in person for about five to six months in 2020.
The physical school sessions began on January 20 of this year only for those who sit for the school’s final exams.
DidikTV KPM, a special television channel dedicated to educational content, was launched by Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin on Wednesday as an effort to increase access to education for students across the country.
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