Schools are about to resume, but before that can happen conversations need to take place with regards with how is the education sector going to manage the various SOP’s in an environment like a classroom. A place that sees a hive of activity, interaction is almost inevitable and children asked not to play with each other, is this even right?
The key here is, which might sound redundant is ‘education’…students need to understand the fundamentals behind the New Norm, on why this will be the practice from now and understand more about the Covid 19 virus. All students in the country and the world must become medical students or at least know the basics.
The Prime Minister has been having video sessions with relevant ministries on the matter, he has raised questions on the readiness of teachers to conduct health checks on students, before schools can reopen, and if the Education Ministry was ready to comply with the standard operating procedure.
“Maybe we have to ascertain with the Education Ministry, are they able to comply with the new SOP in schools…have to check, have to wash hands, have to test (temperature), and are the instruments all on standby?”
“As far as I know, a classroom normally has some 40 people, we can’t allow 40 to seat close together. Now, only half (that number), meaning have to break into two classes. If 20 per class, we don’t know what the distancing is like,” he said in a video conferencing with Senior Minister (Security Cluster) Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob and Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah today.
In the 40-minute video conferencing session, which was uploaded on Muhyiddin’s Facebook, the prime minister said if the number of students was reduced to 15 per class, it would require the use of many classrooms and holding of morning and afternoon school sessions.
These were among matters that needed to be studied and fine-tuned before schools could reopen, he said, adding that so far no dates had been set for schools to resume.
Schools nationwide have been closed since the Movement Control Order (MCO) was implemented on March 18 to break the chain of COVID-19 infection. With the easing of restriction and positive cases on the downtrend, parents have been curious when school will reopen and how will the relevant Ministries handle the matter. Countries like Australia and New Zealand have already began admitting children back to classrooms with China already leading the way in this aspect. Malaysia need to closely work with these countries Education departments and see if can implement some of the SOP to ensure welfare of the children is taken care and at the same time comfort the parents.
