PENDANG – The Education Ministry has no plans to end the school session for states under Phase 4 of the National Recovery Plan earlier than scheduled despite the detection of Covid-19 cases among students.
Education Minister Datuk Mohd Radzi Md Jidin said, so far, there were 200 cases involving students, and the situation was still under control.
The 2021 year-end school holiday for states in Group A, namely Johor, Kedah, Kelantan and Terengganu will begin on December 10 while for Group B, namely Melaka, Negeri Sembilan, Pahang, Perak, Perlis, Penang, Sabah, Sarawak, Selangor as well as the federal territories of Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya and Labuan on December 11.
“The number of active cases is lower compared to the total number of pupils and students who attended school, which is around 4.5 million people. As we are moving towards the endemic phase, this (Covid-19 infection) will occur but with the existing SOPs (standard operating procedures), we will try to control the situation to prevent the virus from spreading further.”
He said this in a press conference after launching the Pendang Academy of Science with the deputy human resources minister, who is also the Pendang MP, Datuk Awang Hashim.
Radzi said any decision with regards to the closure of schools would depend on the risk assessment conducted by the Health Ministry, adding that the face-to-face school session was important in helping students avoid being left behind in their school lessons.
In another development, he said the ministry had approved 11,469 teacher transfer applications or 55% of the total 20,772 applications received.
“We will announce the results tomorrow (Monday),” he said. – Bernama, December 5, 2021
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