‘Peninsula teachers undergoing quarantine will not affect school operations’
KUCHING: School operations beginning tomorrow will not be affected by teachers absent from having to undergo the mandatory 14-day quarantine upon returning to the state from the peninsula, said Sarawak Bumiputera Teachers Union (KGBS) president Ahmad Malie.
He said most of the teachers coming back to Sarawak and undergoing quarantine are not involved in teaching Form 5 and Upper 6 classes.
However, if there are teachers involved in teaching Form 5 and Upper 6 classes who are being quarantined, each school and their principal should be able to deal with the matter as they would have been informed of the situation beforehand, he added.
“Therefore KGBS urges parents and guardians to trust the schools that sessions for exam-year students starting June 24 will begin smoothly.
“We also will ensure that the interest of the students will be the schools’ top priority,” he told The Borneo Post yesterday.
Ahmad also reminded all schools in the state that only classes involving Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM), Sijil Vokasional Malaysia (SVM), Sijil Tinggi Persekolahan Malaysia (STPM), Sijil Tinggi Agama Malaysia (STAM) as well as their international equivalents are allowed to resume classes.
He said schools must always observe and abide by the standard operating procedures (SOP) set by the Education Ministry as announced by its minister Dr Mohd Radzi Mohd Jidin on March 18.
Meanwhile, St Joseph’s Secondary School, Kuching student affairs senior assistant Nasir Len said 221 students in Form 5 and 75 in Upper 6 are expected to return to class tomorrow.
He said five classes will be opened for Upper 6 students while eight classes for Form 5 students will be divided into 12 groups.
“Only two male teachers from the peninsula – Terengganu and Kelantan – are still undergoing quarantine beginning June 19 till July 3,” he said.
Teachers at St Joseph’s Secondary School, Kuching put up SOP signs and markers in preparation for tomorrow’s reopening.
Last Saturday, 565 teachers from Peninsular Malaysia were flown back to the state via chartered flights arranged and subsidised by Sarawak Volunteers in cooperation with Malaysia Airlines, the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Research, and the state Education Department.
It was reported that out of 2,664 teachers from the peninsula, 1,716 could not return to Sarawak due to lack of flights and steep air fares.
As announced by the Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) recently, teachers returning from the peninsula must undergo 14-day quarantine upon reaching the state.
A teacher prepares liquid hand wash at the canteen of St Joseph’s Secondary School, Kuching.
Those in the urban areas must undergo home quarantine, while those posted to rural areas will be placed at quarantine centres assigned by SDMC.
They must also be screened for Covid-19 by undergoing swab tests on the 10th day of quarantine.
The Sarawak government is bearing the cost of the swab tests for these teachers and the cost of quarantine for those assigned to quarantine centres.
It was also learned that more chartered flights would be arranged to bring back other teachers stranded outside Sarawak, including those in Sabah and Labuan. –The Borneo Post
