By Karen Bong
KUCHING, June 11: Not all classes will resume for Form Five and Upper Six students when schools reopen on June 24 in Sarawak.
Minister of Education, Science and Technological Research Datuk Seri Micheal Manyin Jawong pointed out the reason for this is that the 2,664 teachers from Peninsular Malaysia are still not able to travel here due to limited flights and high costs involved.
“Under the directive of the Ministry of Education (MOE), the teachers are supposed to return to their schools before June 9 but it is difficult at this moment as many of them are facing problems to get a flight which is also costly.
“Out of the number, 400 of them are teaching Form Five and Upper Six,” he told a press conference on the reopening of schools in Sarawak at his ministry’s office in Baitulmakmur Building today.
However, Manyin emphasised that the state government together with the State Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) is currently getting assistance from Sarawak Volunteers under Petra Jaya MP and Works Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof to secure flights for the returning teachers.
“We believe the teachers will be able to come back to Sarawak before June 24.
“All returning teachers and their dependents will need to undergo quarantine for 14 days upon arrival,” he said.
He added that teachers in urban schools will be quarantined at home while those in urban areas will be placed in hotels with the cost to be borne by the state government.
On whether there are sufficient teachers to teach classes as students will be divided due to social distancing rules, Manyin was confident schools will be able to cope as only the students sitting for public examinations will be returning in the first phase of schools reopening.
“We will make arrangements and preparation for teachers teaching Lower Six to teach the classes involved,” he explained.
Meanwhile, Sarawak will comply with Ministry of Education (MOE) instructions for the reopening of schools on June 24.
This will involve 34,306 Form Five students and 6,782 Upper Six students in 188 secondary schools including Sekolah Agama, Technical Schools and Vocational Colleges in Sarawak. — DayakDaily
