By Nur Ashikin Louis
KUCHING, June 28: A total of 1,161 educators (30 per cent overall), 924 educator assistants (40 per cent) in kindergartens as well as 316 caregivers (39 per cent) and 105 assistants in nurseries (67 per cent) in Sarawak had received their Covid-19 vaccines as of June 24 this year.
In revealing this, Welfare, Community Wellbeing, Women, Family and Childhood Development Minister Dato Sri Fatimah Abdullah said the ministry through the Early Childhood Development Division (BPAKK) has submitted a total of 5,703 names of educators and caregivers to the Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) on March 12.
“With over 2,506 personnel of early childhood education institutions (IPAKKs) who have been vaccinated, the ministry is currently in the process of compiling the namelist of educators and caregivers who have not yet received their vaccination appointments.
“A total of 4,644 educators and caregivers including assistants who have not yet received vaccination appointment slots where 480 people from the list, who are in Kuching district, have been sent as standby list for vaccination,” she said in a statement after chairing a Sarawak Early Childhood Development Council (MPAKS) meeting virtually today.
She revealed that the effort was important to ensure that the IPAKK fraternity can provide education and care to children more safely and securely.
“If the educators and caregivers of kindergartens and nurseries have been vaccinated, it will enable their IPAKKs to operate. The nurseries needs to operate to provide support to working parents while kindergartens need to operate physically because home-based learning (PdPR) is not suitable for children at this age,” she added.
Fatimah elaborated that the ministry has allowed kindergartens and nurseries which have applied to be allowed to open, to operate for frontliners’ children only during the Movement Control Order (MCO).
“To date, a total of 137 kindergartens with a total of 1,097 frontliners’ children, and 94 nurseries with a total of 440 frontliners’ children, have been approved to operate,” she said.
She also said the ministry has submitted an application to SDMC to also provide flexibility with regards to children whose parents belong to any of three categories of essential services, namely banking, educators and media practitioners.
“So far we have not received approval from SDMC.
“Currently, the ministry is also still accepting appeals submitted by parents who belong to (categories of) 50 jobs under essential services,” she emphasised.
Fatimah also disclosed that the meeting included three notable presenters namely Association of Kindergarten Operators Sarawak (AKO) president Jason Kong Jin Nian, Association of Registered Child Care Providers of Sarawak (PPBS) president Ng Lee Boon and Tadika Astana Miri operator Siti Hajijah Abdullah Sani, as participants deliberated on input for the preparation of a Post-Covid Recovery Plan for kindergartens and nurseries in Sarawak.
Also present were Women, Family and Childhood Development Assistant Minister Datuk Rosey Yunus and Early Childhood Development Division chief Salina Bujang. — DayakDaily
