Boarding school students not taking SPM to continue lessons online

 

Students from non-examination classes who went home for the Chinese New Year holidays are not allowed to return to their hostels, but will continue their lessons through home-based teaching and learning (PdPR).

Education Minister Mohd Radzi Jidin said this was to protect students who will be sitting for the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) examination this year from Covid-19 infection.

“We will continue to ensure compliance with standard operating procedures (SOP) in boarding schools, in particular, it can be improved. The Education Ministry has also stepped up monitoring in schools to ensure all SOPs can be complied with and can reduce the risk of Covid-19 infection," he said in a video on Facebook.

On the increase in Covid-19 cases in the education sector with a cumulative 118,238 cases recorded from Jan 1 to Feb 1, he said of the total, 8,451 cases (7.15 percent) were related to education clusters, while the remaining 109,787 (92.85 percent) involved other clusters.

“In total, there are 303 clusters nationwide (from Jan 1 to Feb 1) and from these clusters, 100 clusters (33 percent) involve educational institutions under the Education Ministry, while 86 clusters (28.38 percent) involve institutions not under the ministry.

"The 100 clusters at institutions under the ministry involved a total of 5,494 cases, and out of these 100 clusters, 96 clusters involved institutions under the ministry, while four clusters are private institutions registered under the ministry," Radzi added. 

According to him, out of 96 clusters involving institutions under the ministry, 84 involved boarding institutions, comprising 76 clusters from hostels and eight from fully residential institutions.

"If we take into account the total boarding institutions under the ministry, which is 1,918 institutions, these 84 clusters are equivalent to 4.38 percent of the total boarding institutions under the ministry," he said.

As for non-boarding institutions, he said, 12 clusters were recorded, involving two clusters of secondary schools and 10 clusters from primary schools.

"If we look at these 12 clusters and compare with the total 8,356 non-boarding institutions under the ministry, the total 12 clusters is equivalent to 0.14 percent of the total," he added.

–Bernama