Mistrine (third right) cutting a cake during the 2021 National Senior Citizens Policy Celebration.
KOTA KINABALU (Nov 20): Parents will not be forced to send their children to schools when they reopen on Monday but are encouraged to do so, said State Education Director Datuk Mistrine Radin.
“If parents are worried (about sending their children to school), we won’t force them.
“However, they have to inform the schools why their children could not attend,” she told reporters when met during the 2021 National Senior Citizens Policy celebration here on Saturday.
If the students did not give any reasons for skipping school, Mistrine said that the schools would contact the parents.
She disclosed that her department has briefed the principals, headmasters, senior assistants, Parent-Teacher Associations, private bodies as well as student representatives on the latest standard operating procedures for schools.
Mistrine reminded the parents that it is not compulsory for students to wear school uniforms at the moment, in line with the Ministry of Education’s announcement in September.
However, she said that the students’ attire must be appropriate.
The Education Ministry has announced that educational institutions in Sabah, Perlis, Perak, Penang and Kedah will resume operations on Nov 21 and 22, in accordance with the regulations stipulated under Phase Four of the National Recovery Plan.
Year One to Year Six pupils in primary schools, as well as those in remove classes and Form One to Form Four students in secondary schools in Sabah, Perlis, Perak, Penang and Kedah will be attending school using a weekly rotation model.
The Education Ministry said this decision to bring all students back was made after monitoring the situations at schools since schools resumed face-to-face learning starting Oct 3 using the Guidelines for School Management and Operations 3.0.
However, the ministry said students in full boarding schools will be resuming face-to-face lessons without using the rotation model.