Wong (left) talking gathering feedback from a parent on the reopening of schools.
SIBU (Aug 7): The Education Ministry (MoE) is urged to defer the reopening of schools on September 1 and allow home-based learning to continue as students have not been vaccinated against Covid-19.
In making the call, Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB) Sibu Task Force member Dr Wong Su Eing said schools were also known as a hotbed for Covid-19 outbreak and there is no reason to justify the rush for the reopening.
“I therefore strongly recommend that schools be allowed to open only after the Covid-19 pandemic has subsided or the inoculation exercise for the school children has started. Otherwise, we just need to postpone the school reopening,’ he said.
Senior Education Minister Datuk Dr Radzi Jidin had said schools would reopen in phases, starting on Sept 1 and the reopening will be based on the Covid-19 vaccination rate in the respective areas.
Wong said it would be more logical to allow students to continue their home-based learning (PdPR) since there were only two-months left for the end of the school year.
“It will not be too late to return to school when the situation is safer next year. After all, with the number of new Covid-19 cases still surging throughout the state and especially with the detection of the more deadly Delta variant, precautionary measures should be taken at all times.”
Wong claimed that earlier this year, when schools reopened in March, it gave rise to the spread of Covid-19 with many clusters emerging.
“That bitter experience should not be repeated and the MoE should reassess the safety of the schools, teachers and students before thinking of reopening.”
He said it would be more appropriate for the MoE to explain to the students, the parents and the stakeholders on the progress of the vaccination plan for students so that they would be more prepared to accept the reality.
According to statistics, Wong said there are currently 2.7 million primary school students and two million secondary school students across the country.
“There is still no vaccination programme planned for these students,” he said.
Wong said the MoE lacked specific plans and strategies in the decision-making mechanism for the suspension and resumption of classes.
He said the policies they formulated were unclear which confused teachers, students and parents.
“The MoE should establish a joint-working committee with the National Security Council, the Ministry of Health, schools, family education groups and non-governmental educational groups to closely coordinate on education matters and outline a set of standards before schools reopen.”
Wong said MoE should also play its role professionally and formulate corresponding strategies in response to the current education dilemma so that when the students return to school, the negative impact can be minimized.
Adding on, Wong called on the National Covid-19 Task Force (CITF) to expeditiously explore the feasibility of vaccination for school children from 12 to 17 years old.
He said many countries had approved the vaccination for young people in the world such as Singapore, Canada, United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Israel and France.
In China, Wong said the government had arranged for secondary school students aged between 12 to 17 years old to complete two doses of vaccination so that they can return to schools before September.
“In contrast, here we have our students who remain unvaccinated, yet are told that schools will reopen in September. This surely raises concern of another round of Covid-19 outbreak in the schools.”