KUALA LUMPUR – A discussion with the Education Ministry (MoE) on giving relaxation to parents on interstate and inter-district travel to send their children to school will be held tomorrow, said Senior Minister (Security) Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.
He said the decision of the discussion would be announced on Thursday, as schools will be opening in stages from March 1.
“As workers can cross districts by showing letters from their employers without police approval, I will discuss the matter with MoE. We will announce it on Thursday.
“If possible, hostel acceptance letters or letters from teachers can be provided (by MoE) as special letters of approval for parents to send their children to schools or hostels outside their (respective) districts or states,” he said at a media conference on the development of movement control order (MCO) here today.
On Friday, MoE announced schools will reopen on March 1 for preschool and Years 1 and 2 students, while students from Years 3 to 6 will start on March 8.
Apart from that, Group A (Kedah, Johor, Kelantan, Terengganu) secondary school students will return to school on April 4 while Group B (all other states and Federal Territories) will return to school on April 5.
Commenting on whether the government will allow manicure services to operate in areas under MCO, Ismail said the proposal will be brought to the technical committee tomorrow before an announcement is made on Thursday.
“I understand the complaint as I also receive applications almost every day. In conditional MCO and recovery MCO areas, it is allowed, and those applying are from MCO areas such as Penang, Selangor, Kuala Lumpur, and Johor,” he said.
Besides that, he said that so far, the government has yet to grant approval for interstate travel in CMCO areas but permission can be obtained from police for urgent matters.
“... but as we know, the status of MCO, conditional MCO, and recovery MCO (in all states) will be known after they end on March 4. I will be making the announcement two days before that,” he said. – Bernama, February 23, 2021
