Prioritise teachers for Covid-19 jab, too – Teo Nie Ching

SCHOOLS have been closed since March last year. While the closure is inevitable, it also has far-reaching ramifications. 

The impact is felt not just through lost learning hours, but also the lack of institutional protection that schools offer, such as food programmes for many children from the B40 group (Rancangan Makanan Tambahan) and various other forms of support for Orang Asli children in education, as well as the aid it offers to families as a routine, providing both children and parents stability.

After implementing home-based learning for nearly a year, our preparation and readiness for it is still below par. 

Until today, three critical issues that determine the quality of home-based learning – access to gadgets or suitable devices, internet connectivity and bandwidth, and adequate content for Education TV (TV Pendidikan) – remain largely unaddressed and severely lacking.

Therefore, school reopening should be one of our top priorities. However, since schools reopened in January for some students, there have been several cases of teachers testing positive for Covid-19.

This raises many safety questions. Parents need to be assured that appropriate measures are taken to protect children before they are allowed back at school. 

Vaccinating teachers becomes a priority, and is a critical step towards creating an environment that is safe for children and provides stability in the education ecosystem. 

Last December, Unicef called for teachers to be prioritised for the Covid-19 vaccine, once front-line health personnel and high-risk populations are vaccinated. 

This will no doubt help protect teachers from the virus, allow them to teach in person, and ultimately keep schools open, which, in turn, allows parents and the larger segment of society to gradually return to normalcy.

Britain’s education minister, Gavin Williamson, is advocating for teachers to be prioritised for vaccines. In Northern Ireland, upon the request of Education Minister Peter Weir, those working in special schools will be prioritised for vaccination.

But in Malaysia, the education minister is still finding his voice to speak up for teachers. I urge the minister to show some leadership, and the government to embark on an effective recovery journey.

Teachers must be prioritised so that they remain safe. Teachers are the country’s precious resource, too, and let’s not forget their value in times like this. – The Vibes, February 5, 2021

Teo Nie Ching is Kulai MP and former deputy education minister