Kindergartens not ready, postpone reopening, says union

The NUTP says the requirements for social distancing will create problems at pre-schools.

KUALA LUMPUR: The National Union of the Teaching Profession has urged the government to postpone the reopening of pre-schools and kindergartens, which have been allowed to resume from July 1.

NUTP president Aminudin Awang said most pre-schools and kindergartens were not prepared to resume operations because of constraints on infrastructure to meet the standard operating procedure (SOP) set by the government.

“The facilities at each pre-school are different, for instance some have two classes, and when implemented, social distancing will create such problems as their not being able to support the number of pupils,” he said at a press conference here today.

The government had announced that pre-schools and kindergartens will be fully opened from July 1, subject to the set procedures.

Aminuddin also said the NUTP has come up with several methods to help teachers conduct the teaching-and-learning process in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Aminudin said Universiti Malaya education experts had developed the Social Distancing Pedagogy Model where teachers can adjust a topic according to the needs of students, whether they are taught online or face-to-face.

“Beginning July, we are prepared to organise training workshops for teachers to practise all the new methods,” he said. - FMT