KUALA LUMPUR – The decision to send young children to private kindergartens in areas under the movement control order (MCO) will be up to the parents, said Senior Education Minister Mohd Radzi Md Jidin today.
He said this after some parents expressed concern for the health of their children who are enrolled in the kindergartens.
“This current MCO is different from the one introduced in March, which was tighter whereby only certain economic sectors were open,” he said during a press conference today.
He added that the opening of private kindergartens was based on requests from some operators and parents who were working and needed daycare services for their children.
“Following concerns raised by parents, we leave the matter (of deciding) to them in the context of those kindergartens, whether they are sending their children based on the evaluation of health and so on.
“But in the context of needs, the kindergartens (in MCO areas) are allowed to open.”
Radzi was elaborating on the details of schooling sessions in areas placed under the MCO, conditional MCO (CMCO) and recovery MCO (RMCO).
Yesterday, the Education Ministry announced face-to-face schooling sessions for educational institutions in areas placed under MCO will only involve students sitting for major local examinations in 2020 and 2021, as well as equivalent international examinations.
The examinations are Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM), Sijil Vokasional Malaysia (SVM), Sijil Kemahiran Malaysia (SKM), Sijil Tinggi Persekolahan Malaysia (STPM), Sijil Tinggi Agama Malaysia (STAM) and Diploma Vokasional Malaysia (DVM).
The operation of educational institutions and all categories of private educational institutions (IPS) registered with the ministry, including international schools would be based on the calendars of the respective institutions for areas under the CMCO and RMCO.
Asked about concerns raised by several teachers in attending face-to-face classes due to vulnerability and other health reasons, Radzi said they needed to present evidence from doctors to certify that they were unable to be physically present at schools and this would be decided by the respective department heads.
He also said there was no current effort to conduct swab tests on all the teaching coming back to school, but the move to limit the number of teachers and students in schools at any one time would help curb the spread of Covid-19.
On the distribution of textbooks, Radzi said the delivery of new text books and collection of old ones would be informed by the schools.
“We (ministry) have explained to the schools the methods which this would be implemented. We realise that for teaching and learning to be conducted at home, there needs to be textbooks. The schools will be in contact with parents regarding the collections of the textbooks.”
He added that for standard one students that needed to attend online classes, the schools involved have their names listed and teachers will also contact the parents to make the necessary preparations. – The Vibes, January 12, 2021
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