PETALING JAYA: The opposition has asked the education ministry to stop blanket closure of schools and instead use Covid-19 colour codes to minimise disruption and avoid confusion.
Pakatan Harapan (PH) said it was pointless to shut schools which are in green zones or those in remote areas and far away from Covid-19 infected zones.
It said rural areas often faced connectivity issues, with little internet access.
“It will be safer for schools in green zones to remain open when compared to red or yellow zones.
“These can be easily identified using the government’s latest Hotspots Identification for Dynamic Engagement (HIDE) system,” it said in a statement.
The statement was jointly issued by former education minister Maszlee Malik, former deputy education minister Teo Nie Ching, PKR’s Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad and Amanah’s Hasan Baharom.
On April 26, education minister Radzi Jidin announced that school sessions would be held online for two weeks after the Hari Raya holidays.
It will be implemented from May 16 to 27 for group A schools (in Johor, Kedah, Kelantan and Terengganu) and May 17 to 28 for group B schools (in Perlis, Penang, Perak, Selangor, Negeri Sembilan, Melaka, Pahang, Sabah, Sarawak, Kuala Lumpur, Labuan and Putrajaya).
Radzi had said this decision was made to avoid the risk of Covid-19 infections in schools after the school holidays to celebrate Hari Raya, scheduled from May 7 to 15 for group A schools, and May 8 to 16 for group B schools.
However, the PH MPs described this as a “knee jerk reaction” as it had not taken into account the available scientific data provided by the health ministry.
“The ministry ought to be more creative and start thinking out of the box as some rural students do not have any online access.
“The danger of losing one generation in our education system will become real if this problem continues,” the statement said.
Citing concerns of parents of SPM students, it said there was an urgent need to put in place an alternative system for this group, who are in their crucial year of study.
“For instance, the parents have suggested that these students attend school from Monday to Friday while Form Four students could attend schools on alternate days and follow online classes on other days.”
They said there was much concern about the plight of this year’s SPM students who were not in school for most of last year, with much of the teaching and learning done online because of Covid-19 movement control orders.
“With the disruptions, many will be weak in their studies. To make it easier for them, the ministry should reduce the number of topics for selected subjects so that they can cope,” it said.
The MPs said the number of dropouts could increase under the circumstances and they feared that this could result in a socio-economic breakdown, with higher crime rates, involving them.
“The education ministry should view this potential problem seriously and come up with radical proactive measures.” - FMT
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