SIBU, Feb 22: With Primary 1 and 2 students scheduled to return to school on March 1, Primary 3 to 6 students on March 8, and secondary students on April 5, many parents here are still in a dilemma whether to let their children follow suit.
Sibu district is still classified as a Covid-19 red zone with a relatively high number of new cases recorded daily.
Office administrator Ali Saibe, 55, is hesitatant about sending his youngest son to Primary 2.
“If Sibu is still under red zone on March 1, then I will not be sending him to school. His school might have all the standard operating procedure guidelines, but we don’t know where the other students are from. They might be residing in Kampung Hilir or even Sibu Jaya which has high numbers of cases,” he said.
Ali said he would wait until the town is back to green zone status before sending his son to school.
Cafe operator Novi Chieng is also not taking any chances but prefers to wait for the situation to improve first before agreeing to send her three childen who are in Primary 4, 6 and Form 3 to attend classes in person.
“We will wait first. If we can’t trust the government to make the best decision, we have to decide our own,” she said.
Sibu Municipal Council chairman, Clarence Ting emphathised with anxious parents.
“But all we know that remote learning is not a good substitute for physical classes. We know that children need to go back to school. We know that children under 18 will not be vaccinated, we know that this pandemic will be with us for a long time to come. This is the challenge. I have read about many who openly asked schools to remain closed out of personal fears and anxieties,” he said.
Ting suggested that Parent-Teacher Associations of schools should ensure that the SOP conditions are met to mitigate the situation.
“I suggest elected officials should be talking to the education department in detail to check on their plans. Go check every school if you have to. Check on the SOP and bring them to our national leaders and make sure those working SOPs are implemented,” he added. — DayakDaily
