Unvaccinated teachers barred from face-to-face classes - Radzi

 

Some 2,500 teachers who refused vaccination will be barred from conducting face-to-face lessons when schools in certain states reopen on Oct 3, said Education Minister Radzi Jidin.

According to a report by Berita Harian today, the minister said there are still some 2,500 teachers nationwide who have refused to be vaccinated, and he will hold an engagement session with them.

In the meantime, however, these teachers will not be allowed to conduct face-to-face classes or interact with students.

“The Education Ministry will issue guidelines for unvaccinated teachers, and at the same time, we will discuss with the Public Service Commission on actions that can be taken against teachers who have not been vaccinated,” he was quoted as saying.

He also assured parents that unvaccinated teachers only represent a small portion of the 400,000 teachers in the country, and the ministry wishes to ensure that schools will be a safe place for children.

The minister reportedly said some teachers could not be vaccinated for health reasons, but some have also claimed to reject vaccination because they are not confident of its efficacy.

“We will scrutinise each of the of the reasons given and ask state education departments or district education offices to meet and explain to these teachers the need for vaccination because we want to ensure the entire school ecosystem is safe for our children,” he said.

For the record, schools will only be opened in states and territories that are in Phase 2 of the National Recovery Plan or better.

This excludes schools in Kedah, Selangor, Johor, Kuala Lumpur, and Putrajaya, which are closed indefinitely.

Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin

Only small portion of teachers unvaccinated

Radzi reportedly said this at a press conference in Kangar today after holding an engagement session with primary school teachers in Perlis.

According to the report, Radzi said 96.7 percent of teachers have received at least one vaccine dose, while 85.26 percent have completed their vaccinations.

Among school support staff such as caterers, janitors and security guards, 89.35 percent have received at least one dose, and 73.71 percent have completed their vaccination.

Previously, Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin had said the government has no plans to make vaccines mandatory so far but will encourage “sectoral persuasion”.

This could entail a policy of frequent testing for those who refuse vaccination.

He also said he will hold a discussion on vaccine mandates with Radzi, including legal issues surrounding the issue.

Meanwhile, Selangor Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah had warned that religious officers in the state, including religious school teachers, could be prohibited from performing their duties if they refuse vaccination.

Currently, only the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is approved in Malaysia for adolescents aged 12 years and above, while other vaccines are approved for adults only.

Too young to be vaccinated

However, the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme is currently focused on vaccinating adults, though exam-year students will get priority for vaccination once vaccinations for adolescents begin.

No Covid-19 vaccine has been approved for people below 12 years old pending further study on whether vaccines are safe and effective for this age group.

The risk of Covid-19 in the classroom was highlighted in a recent case study in California, where an unvaccinated teacher continued to work for two days before getting tested after initially mistaking Covid-19 symptoms for an allergic reaction.

The teacher also reportedly went against school regulations by reportedly unmasking occasionally to read aloud. The students themselves had been too young to be vaccinated.

Despite good ventilation in the classroom and strict adherence to masking and social distancing guidelines among the students, this triggered a Covid-19 cluster that infected at least 27 people.

This includes half of the teacher’s class, especially those sitting in the front rows.

However, the outbreak did not spread far beyond the school into the community, which researchers attributed to the high vaccination rate in the city where the outbreak occurred.

 - Mkini