Parents concerned about sending their children to school soon amid record high numbers in the COVID-19 pandemic can now breathe a sigh of relief.

This because schools will only start reopening in stages from October 3 in states which have transitioned into the Second Phase of the National Recovery Plan (NRP), Education Minister Mohd Radzi Jidin has announced.

The minister sought to put to rest concerns by parents of young kids about the school reopening, via a video posted on his official Facebook page yesterday, reported New Straits Times (NST).

"States which are still in Phase 1 of the NRP cannot reopen until they transition into the second phase," he reportedly said, adding that students' safety is the ministry's top priority.

According to Radzi further, the gradual reopening will begin with class for students in their exam years, namely Form Five and Form Six.



Currently, six states, namely Penang, Perak, Kelantan, Terengganu, Pahang and Sabah are under Phase Two of the NRP, while Perlis, Sarawak and Labuan have transitioned to Phase Three.

Selangor, Kuala Lumpur, Negeri Sembilan, Kedah, Melaka, Johor, and Putrajaya are still stuck in Phase One due to high occurrence of COVID-19 cases.

Radzi assured that all decisions regarding the reopening of schools will be made according to risk assessments and recommendations by the Health Ministry, and the National Security Council (NSC).

It has been previously reported that 82,341 children had been infected by the coronavirus since the pandemic broke until May 30 this year.

To date, more than 1.4 million have been infected by the coronavirus, and 282 people have died from it.

The global COVID-19 infection and death tally has surpassed 207 million, and 4.37 million, respectively.


Source: NST
Photo source: Astro Awani