Covid-19: Education Ministry to wait until Nov 1 to act on anti-vax teachers, says Radzi

KUCHING: The Education Ministry will wait until Nov 1 to take action against teachers who refuse to be vaccinated against Covid-19.

Minister Datuk Dr Radzi Jidin said this was in line with the Public Services Department's (JPA) directive making it mandatory for all civil servants to be vaccinated by Nov 1.

"Since the JPA announcement, some teachers have gone for their first dose, so we are monitoring the situation.

"What is important is that if unvaccinated teachers affect the school operations, immediate action will be taken, including transferring them," added Radzi when speaking to reporters after visiting SMK Bandar Samariang here on Tuesday (Oct 26).

Education Minister Datuk Dr Radzi Jidin (right) speaking to Form Five student Harris Muazzam Abdullah Salleh during his visit to SMK Bandar Samariang in Kuching.- ZULAZHAR SHEBLEE/The Star

Radzi said the Ministry's basic principle was that unvaccinated teachers could not teach face-to-face classes but must be present in school for other duties.

At the same time, he said, it was important to ensure that school operations were not affected if there were teachers who refused to be vaccinated.

"In special education schools, for example, if one of the teachers is not vaccinated, it will affect the other teachers because special needs children are usually closely accompanied by teachers.

"This is something we are looking at in detail, similarly with preschool teachers who don't want to be vaccinated," he said.

On teen vaccination, Radzi said over 80% had received the first dose while some states had reached 90%.

He also said the majority of Form Five and Six students had been fully vaccinated.

"We are in the final stages of studying the data to decide on allowing Form Five and Six students to return to school without rotation," he said, adding that the decision would be announced soon.