The government will distribute detailed guidelines on the reopening of schools, to help teachers and students cope with COVID-19 containment measures, tomorrow.

According to Education Minister Mohd Radzi Md Jidin, the guidelines were formulated in collaboration with the Ministry of Health (MOH) and the National Security Council (MKN).

However, the move will only involve Form Five and Six students in nearly 3,000 secondary schools nationwide, he was quoted telling Bernama after visiting Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Engku Husain in Semenyih, yesterday.

"We issued these guidelines to see which methods need to be done in the context of school reopening and proper preparations to ensure that whenever we announce the date, they will be ready.

"The ministry has always discussed on rooms for improvement with the schools... what's important, is for everyone to play a role in the management of the school, teachers and parents, for example, if the child has symptoms then the child should stay at home," the minister said.

Stressing that no particular date has yet to be set for the reopening of schools, Mohd Radzi noted that it would be announced two weeks prior to the reopening.

Meanwhile, Free Malaysia Today (FMT) quoted a source saying that primary schools are not expected to reopen until next year.

"The plan is to suspend schooling for primary standards until next year," the unnamed source was quoted saying.

Schools in the country have remained closed since the first-term holidays begun on March 14, due to the Movement Control Order (MCO) enforced to contain the spread of COVID-19.

Last April, Putrajaya announced that the Ujian Pencapaian Sekolah Rendah (UPSR) and Pentaksiran Tingkatan Tiga (PT3) examinations have been cancelled this year, while upper secondary examinations such as Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM), Sijil Tinggi Pelajaran Malaysia (STPM), have been moved to the first quarter of next year.


Source: Bernama, FMT
Photo source: Astro Awani