Secondary schools in Sarawak ready to reopen — Manyin

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Manyin leads the tour of a classroom at SMK Paku, where desks and seats are arranged in compliance with social distancing. On his left is Abang Mat Ali.

BAU: Secondary schools in Sarawak are prepared to reopen and receive Form 5 and Upper 6 students on June 24, having implemented guidelines and standard operating procedures (SOP) to curb the spread of Covid-19, said Dato Sri Michael Manyin.

The Minister of Education, Science and Technological Research said he had been informed by officers from his ministry, state Education Department and district education offices, that other schools in the state have also put in place the guidelines and SOPs which include strict distancing rules which necessitates one class to cater to a maximum of 20 students at one time.

“I am happy to see the preparedness of these schools to reopen. Before this, we had taken proactive measures anticipating the reopening of schools, including meeting Deputy Chief Minister and Sarawak Disaster Management Committee chairman Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah on the guidelines especially for teachers coming from the peninsula.

“We want parents not to be skeptical when sending their children to school,” he said after visiting four schools in Bau yesterday to see for himself their level of preparedness.

A total 188 secondary schools in Sarawak will reopen June 24 after being closed for more than three months, involving 34,306 Form 5 students and 6,782 Upper 6 students.

Education Minister Dr Mohd Radzi Md Jidin announced the reopening of schools nationwide for students sitting for Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM), Sijil Vokasional Malaysia (SVM), Sijil Tinggi Persekolahan Malaysia (STPM) and Sijil Tinggi Agama Malaysia (STAM) as well as equivalent international examinations.

Manyin meanwhile mentioned that Sarawak Volunteers headed by Works Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof is assisting to charter flights to bring back the remaining teachers stranded in Peninsular Malaysia, starting this week.

“Hopefully, they will be in the state at the end of this week and next week. They are stranded in the peninsula due to lack of flights and the high price of tickets,” he said.

It had been reported that 1,716 out of 2,664 teachers from Peninsular Malaysia who are serving in Sarawak faced difficulty in reporting back for duty due to costly flight fares.

Manyin also said that as per the announcement by SDMC, teachers returning from the peninsula must undergo 14-day-quarantine upon arriving in the state.

Those in urban areas must undergo home quarantine, while those posted to rural areas must undergo quarantine at quarantine centres assigned by the committee, he added.

During yesterday’s visit, Manyin advised principals of the schools to make sure the syllabus of their respective batch of Form 5 and Upper 6 classes is completed by January before the students sit for their public examinations in February.

In Bau district, only SMK Bau has classes for Lower 6 and Upper 6 while the others have classes up to Form 5 only.

He also told them to prepare and plan for any eventuality of more announcements from the Ministry of Education which would require them to accommodate larger numbers of students from those in Form 1 to Form 4, if these students are allowed back to school again.

During the visit, Manyin was also briefed on preparations made by the schools such as the purchase of sanitisers and face masks for students – partially funded by elected representatives in Bau district.

He was also informed of their difficulty in conducting online learning due to limited internet access, apart from some students not being able to afford the needed gadgets.

Accompanying Manyin during the visit was Sarawak Education director Abang Mat Ali Abang Masagus, deputy director Dr Les Met and Bau district education officer Charlie Ungang.

Also present were Tasik Biru assemblyman Dato Henry Harry Jinep, Serembu assemblyman Miro Simuh and political secretaries to the chief minister Dr Simon Sinang Bada and Charles Chad Nissom.