School closures not based on red zones alone, says minister

Education Minister Radzi Jidin says schools are closed due to the advice of the health ministry, National Security Council and state government.

KUALA LUMPUR: School closures to combat the Covid-19 pandemic are not necessarily limited to red zones, said Education Minister Radzi Jidin.

He said schools in other zones would also be shut if there was a need to do so, citing the closing of several schools in Kedah, which is not classified as a red zone.

“The criteria depend on the evaluation made by the state education department with all relevant parties,” he said in the Dewan Rakyat today in reply to a question from Kelvin Yii (PH-Bandar Kuching).

On the proposal for schools in Sabah to be closed following a spike in new Covid-19 cases there, Radzi said the education ministry would need to get the advice from the health ministry and National Security Council.

Radzi Jidin

“If there’s a need to close schools in that locality based on the advice of professionals in the health ministry, NSC and state government, we in the education ministry are ready.

“Every case is different; every case happens differently. Like in Sarawak, more than 200 schools are closed. But in Kedah, we closed only five schools.

“It is based on the current cases, the risk and the way to manage these risks,” he said in reply to an additional question from Teo Nie Ching (PH-Kulai).

On July 29, the Sarawak disaster management committee announced a postponement of the reopening of more than 200 schools in Kuching, Samarahan and Padawan due to Covid-19 fears.

It said 213 schools in these districts would only reopen on Aug 17 instead of Aug 1, involving transition classes, Form 1 to 4, Lower 6 and Year 1 to 6. Preschools, Form 5 and Upper 6 students are not affected. - FMT