Deputy Education Minister: Decision on reopening schools to be announced on Wednesday (June 10)

IPOH: A meeting involving the National Security Council, Education, and Health Ministries will be held on Tuesday (June 9) afternoon to determine when schools will reopen, says Muslimin Yahaya.

However, the Deputy Education Minister said that schools nationwide would be opened to Form Five, Form Six, Vocational and Sijil Tinggi Agama (Stam) students only.

He said after the decision was made during the meeting, an announcement was expected to be made on Wednesday (June 10) by a senior minister over the matter.

“There will be over 300,000 students in this category that will return back to schools two weeks after the announcement is made.

“All secondary school teachers will also need to be back to school to help their counterparts, due to more classes being set up, thus requiring more manpower, ” he told reporters after visiting SMK Raja Permaisuri Bainun here to check on the school’s preparations.

Muslimin added that there would be between 16 and 20 students in one class, and no more than that.

He said the guidelines have been made very clear to all schools, with the standard operating procedure (SOP) to be followed.

On the worries of parents and teachers of students returning back to schools amidst the Covid-19 pandemic, Muslimin said all preparations and SOPs were in place to prevent the spread.

He added Malaysia was among one of the successful countries that handled the pandemic well.

“However, parents must also play a role to ensure that their children with cough, fever, or flu symptoms are not sent to schools.With smaller classes, temperature taking, and using hand sanitisers in schools, this will help prevent the spread of the virus, ” he added.