Dato Sri Fatimah Abdullah
KUCHING: The reopening of schools has received mixed reaction from local politicians interviewed.
Minister of Welfare, Community Wellbeing, Women, Family and Childhood Development Dato Sri Fatimah Abdullah lauded the decision by the State Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) to delay the reopening of schools in Covid-19 red zones by two weeks to March 15.
“The later reopening of the schools in red zones is in cognizance of the need for enhanced and very stringent SOPs suitable for Sarawak.
“We have more boarding schools compared to the peninsula and they are mainly located in rural areas, some distance away from medical personnel, clinics, hospitals. In town areas, some schools have big number of students, so we need to consider all these,” she said when contacted yesterday.
Schools in green, yellow and orange zones could open with the rest of the nation and Fatimah reminded all to strictly follow SOPs.
Dr Kelvin Yii
She added that online learning does not benefit students living in areas with poor internet coverage or younger children in pre-schools and primary schools who are too young to learn on their own as not all parents are able or have the time to help with online learning.
“Online education inevitably widens the gap in education and learning opportunities for children in Sarawak.
“Schooling is not only about delivery of content, knowledge, information. It is a social process where children socialise, interact with one another, learn values and life skills from teachers and peers,” she opined.
Bobby William
Bandar Kuching Member of Parliament Dr Kelvin Yii said the decision to reopen schools need to take into consideration many factors to strike a balance between health and education, especially disadvantaged and rural students.
“In my opinion, the Ministry of Education (MoE) should have by now come up with a long-term comprehensive plan on how to address this issue and not let any students be left behind.
“We cannot just be reacting in our policies and make decisions purely based on current numbers of cases as we may see a spike anytime. We cannot just open and close schools based on daily figures.
“Perhaps the Ministry can look at a hybrid system of home-based learning plus physical classes for those without tablets or internet connection at home,” he suggested, adding that parents would then have the choice of either sending their children for face-to-face classes or online lessons.
“This means teachers teaching in class would be recorded and projected live online for students at home to keep up with lessons.
“DiDikTV should also be ramped up to provide extra education platform for students at home. This would reduce the number of students in class and allow better SOPs compliance especially in red zones or areas where there is a surge in cases,” he said.
He stated that teachers and school staff should also be prioritise for vaccination for protection and to create an environment safe for students, stabilising the education ecosystem.
“At end of the day, MoE should allow greater decentralisation of decision making to the local Education department and even school parent-teacher associations or school boards so they can make informed decisions on what is best for their students based on the local situation,” he added.
Meanwhile, Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak (PBDS) president Bobby William said schools should reopen in May.
His main concern was rural schools whose students are mostly boarders.
“I do not think rural school students would abide with the SOPs. We should probably wait until all are vaccinated.
“My advice is parents and the education department/ministry should not pressure schools too much. Not sending children to school for a year is not going to make them stupid,” he said.