By Karen Bong
KUCHING, Aug 18: Students, teachers and parents will have to bear with shorter year-end school holidays in 2021 which have been halved to three weeks from the usual six weeks.
The Ministry of Education (MOE) announced today that year-end school breaks will begin on Dec 10 until Dec 31, 2021 for schools in Group A which are in Johor, Kedah, Kelantan and Terengganu.
Schools in Group B, comprising Melaka, Negeri Sembilan, Pahang, Perak, Perlis, Penang, Sabah, Sarawak, Selangor as well as the Federal Territories of Kuala Lumpur, Labuan and Putrajaya, will start their break on Dec 11 and end on Dec 31, 2021.
For public holidays in 2021, MOE announced that all schools will get an extra two days of holidays prior to the Chinese New Year celebration which falls on Feb 12 and 13 as well as Hari Raya Aidilfitri on May 13 and 14.
For Hari Deepavali which will be celebrated on Nov 4, 2021, schools in Sarawak will get one extra holiday on Nov 5.
Education Minister Dr Radzi Jidin earlier this month announced that the new school term for next year will begin on Jan 20, 2021.
For Sarawak which is under Group B, Term 1 will start from Jan 20 to March 26; Mid-Term (April 5 to May 28), Term 2 (June 14 to July 16), Second Mid-Term (July 26 to Sept 10) and Year-End (Sept 20 to Dec 10).
The school holidays for Term 1 will start from Jan 1 to 20 (19 days), Mid-Term from March 27 to April 4 (9 days), Mid-Year from May 29 to June 13 (16 days), Second Mid-Term from July 17 to 25 (9 days) and Third Mid-Term (Sept 11 to 19 (9 days) before the Year-End holiday from Dec 11 to 31 (21 days).
Radzi emphasised in a post on his Facebook page that the effects of the unprecedented Covid-19 pandemic have been quite profound.
“As such, the solution to the challenges that arise certainly will require a long time for us to return to normal. The same is true in the context of the schools’ academic year and school holidays.
“In every decision we make, it needs to be based on a solid foundation by taking into account the interests of teachers, students and parents.
“Hopefully, teachers, students and parents can make appropriate planning and preparations for the 2021 schools academic year,” he added. — DayakDaily
