KUALA LUMPUR – Schools with positive Covid-19 cases should be closed for seven days without waiting for Health Ministry’s risk analysis, said the Education Ministry.
The Education Ministry said this was decided yesterday by the National Security Council (NSC) following the rise in Covid-19 cases.
“The closure will enable cleaning and disinfection works as well as close contact tracing to be undertaken by the Health Ministry.
“In this matter, schools that have recorded positive Covid-19 cases should follow the guidelines on closure which will be issued by the Education Ministry,” it said in a statement.
The Education Ministry said students of fully residential schools in Covid-19 red zones should stay put in their hostels while those whose residential schools are in green zones but their family homes are in red zones should also remain in their hostels.
“The school authorities will manage the security and welfare of these students at the hostels.
“During this period of school closure, school administrators are directed to ensure teachers and students implement home-based teaching and learning. The manual for teaching and learning from home can be downloaded from the Education Ministry’s official portal.”
The Education Ministry added it will continue to monitor the Covid-19 situation, involving education institutions under its charge and make decisions based on assessment of data and thorough discussions with the Health Ministry and NSC.
Since schools were reopened on June 24, all decisions on closure of classes or schools had been based on instructions from the Health Ministry, it added.
Yesterday, SK Presint 8 (1) in Putrajaya and SK Bangsar in Kuala Lumpur had been ordered to close until October 16 following the detection of positive COVID-19 cases there. – Bernama, October 10, 2020
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