By Adrian Lim
KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 8: All schools in Sarawak will be closed from tomorrow (November 9) until the end of the academic year on December 17.
The decision was announced by Education Minister Mohd Radzi Md Jidin during a press conference held in Kuala Lumpur today.
He said the closure of the schools will also involve schools in Peninsular Malaysia and all vocational colleges under the Education Ministry in view of the Conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO) being implemented in a few states starting from tomorrow until December 6.
“The Education Ministry takes note of the CMCO which was announced by Senior Minister of Defence on November 7 involving all states in Peninsular Malaysia except for Kelantan, Pahang and Perlis.
“In view of the CMCO and the academic calendar for 2020, the Education Ministry has decided that all schools including vocational colleges under the ministry in those states (with CMCO) will be closed starting from November 9 until the last day of the academic year of the school on December 17.
“The closure of the schools involved 74 per cent of the total schools under the Education Ministry.
“Therefore, the Education Ministry has also decided that all schools in Kelantan, Pahang, Perlis and Sarawak will also be closed starting from November 9 until the end of the academic year for this year which is on December 17,” he said.
Mohd Radzi explained that the closure of the schools is to assist the efforts of the federal government to break the Covid-19 infection in the country.
He stressed that any decision made by the Education Ministry always took into consideration the aspect of safety and health of students, teachers, lecturers and the ministry’s staff.
The Education Ministry is required to adopt a different approach to education in view of the Covid-19 situation which plagued the country, he added.
He pointed out that online based learning will be conducted during the schools closure period.
As for the school’s academic year for 2021, Mohd Radzi said it will start on January 20 next year.
He said all primary school students will return to physical classes on January 20, 2021.
Nonetheless, Mohd Radzi said secondary school students will return to their physical classes in stages although all of them will begin their lessons on the same date.
He revealed that Form One, Form Five and Form Six students were allowed to return to their physical classes on January 20.
However, Mohd Radzi disclosed that Form Two and Form Three students will only be allowed to go back to school on March 8 next year and were required to study through home-based learning between January and February next year.
Mohd Radzi added the admission of Form One and Form Four students into boarding schools for next year is postponed until further notice. — DayakDaily
