KUALA LUMPUR – The Education Ministry today announced the closure of all public schools beginning November 9 until the end of this year's term.
Education Minister Mohd Radzi Md Jidin said the closures will be until December 17 for states categorised under Group A and December 18 for those under Group B.
He said the decision is made based on the extension of conditional movement control order (CMCO) for Kedah, Perak, Melaka, Penang, Johor and Terengganu, from Monday to December 6, as announced by Senior Minister (Defence) Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob yesterday.
Some 74% of public schools are in the areas under the CMCO extension.
Radzi said the closure for schools nationwide starts Monday until December 17 and 18 for Group A and Group B states respectively.
Group A – Johor, Kedah, Kelantan, Terengganu
Group B – Kuala Lumpur, Labuan, Melaka, Negeri Sembilan, Pahang, Perlis, Penang, Perak, Putrajaya, Sabah, Sarawak, Selangor
“These steps are taken to help the government’s efforts to break the chain of Covid-19 infections.”
He said during that time, home-based learning activities will continue according to the suitability of teachers and students.
“School administrators must ensure the teachers and pupils conduct teaching and learning at home,” he said during a live briefing on Facebook.
For students in boarding schools, he said parents will have to take their children home, and parents who need to cross districts or zones to collect them will be given authorisation letters from schools.
He said the SPM, SVM, STMP, and STAM examinations are postponed to February 22, while STPM is slated on March 8.
“The details of all these exams will be announced in the near future.”
For students undertaking these exams, the minister said regular schooling will resume for them in January.
He said the new dates for the exams and school reopening apply to private schools and other institutions registered with the ministry.
“For those that are not registered with the ministry, they are advised to follow the guidelines as well.”
On the student intake for specialised schools, such as boarding, religious and technical schools, and the Royal Military College, he said it will be postponed.
The ministry will also announce the new dates for the SPM trial exams and associated tasks at a later time, he said.
For admission into public institutions of higher learning, he said the rescheduled dates will not affect the intake of new students handled by the Higher Education Ministry through the Central University Admission Unit online portal.
For students undertaking matriculation and Teacher Education Institute programmes, Radzi said classes will be conducted online until December 31, and will resume on January 4.
He said the Malaysian University English Test scheduled for matriculation students next month will be postponed to next year.
He urged those involved to abide by the ministry directives.
“Be assured that the steps taken are to ensure the current generation (of students) obtain the best education even during very challenging times.
“I also appeal to the ministry community, parents and students to continue to follow the directives of the National Security Council and Health Ministry to curb Covid-19.” – The Vibes, November 8, 2020
