KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 22 — The reopening of face-to-face schooling sessions in four states under Phase Four of the National Recovery Plan (PPN) from today provides relief to parents.
Generally, parents were excited with the opening after Perak, Perlis, Penang and Sabah entered Phase four of the PPN since two weeks ago following the reduction in positive COVID-19 cases which was seen as a success of the National COVID-19 Immunisation Programme Programme (PICK).
For students, they hoped the face-to-face schooling session would be continuous because it is more effective from the aspect of comprehension compared to Teaching and Learning at Home (PdPR) prior to this.
In PENANG, Haslinda Abdul Latiff Khan, 36, said she was not worried about sending her daughter Alisha Khayla Mok, seven, back to school.
In fact, she was optimistic to witness the success of the government in controlling the spread of the COVID-19 in schools through the initiative in the long term.
“I feel confident because the vaccination programme implemented previously had shown a reduction in positive cases.
“So, as a parent, I want to see how far the success of the government’s initiative will go,” she told Bernama when met at Sekolah Kebangsaan Seberang Jaya, near Prai, today.
In SABAH, State Education director Datuk Dr Mistirine Radin said, of the 532,231 students in Sabah, 266,116 would be involved in face-to-face schooling sessions today while the rest would undergo PdPS.
She said, from the total, 162,308 primary school pupils and 103,808 secondary school students were involved in face-to-face learning sessions today.
“During this school opening, the students and pupils attendance will be according to weekly rotation. Some of the students and pupils will study in school while the rest will study from home,” she told reporters through WhatsApp today.
Meanwhile, Amni Mardhiah Fauzi, a Form Four student at Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Pekan Telipok, Tuaran said she would use the opportunity to study face-to-face as best as possible to glean knowledge and hoped that the session could be continued after this.
“It’s fun to meet teachers and friends compared to communicating online. And learning face-to-face allows better comprehension and discussions.
“Indeed, it is challenging working in the pandemic situation but we must not lose heart to seek knowledge,” she said.
In PERLIS, seven primary schools were allowed to fully operate for face-to-face learning sessions today, because its pupils’ population did not exceed 150 students.
State Education Department (JPN) director, Naharudeen Othman said JPN was waiting for a full report on the attendance of pupils and students from Standard One to Form Four in all schools on the first day.
“There are over 41,000 primary, secondary and pre-school pupils and students in Perlis and we expect half to attend school today,” he told Bernama.
In PERAK, over 1,000 school relations officers (PPS) comprising police officers and personnel were stationed at 1,102 primary and secondary schools to monitor compliance of the standard operating procedures (SOP) set.
State Crime Prevention and Community Safety Department chief, SAC Noorzainy Mohd Noor said that other than PPS, motorcycle patrol units and traffic policemen were tasked with monitoring the traffic to avoid congestions and ensuring the safety of the students and pupils.
“We not only monitor the SOP early in the morning but also in the afternoon too when students want to return home. This is because parents will want to quickly fetch their children which will result in the SOP being flouted,” he told reporters after the COVID-19 SOP Monitoring Programme with the management of Sekolah Kebangsaan Cator Avenue, Ipoh.
On Nov 8, the Ministry of Education, in a statement, said educational institutions in Perak, Perlis, Penang and Sabah would be operational again in accordance with Phase Four of the PPN starting today, while Kedah started yesterday.
Sources: BERNAMA