Covid-19 cases cropping up in schools

KUALA LUMPUR: Covid-19 cases are emerging in some schools barely two weeks after they reopened on March 1 and parents are calling for the affected schools to close again instead of waiting for health authorities to intervene.

Raja Nurul Huda Raja Halimul Rashid, for instance, registered a petition on change.org calling for the closure of Sekolah Kebangsaan Subang Jaya’s afternoon session after four pupils were found to be Covid-19-positive.

The school had moved to shut down the three affected classes and put the pupils and their 17 teachers under home quarantine, but the parents as well as 300 signatories of the online petition are clamouring for the entire physical session to be stopped to break the chain of transmission.

Raja Nurul Huda said the safety of their children and teachers came first and this would provide parents the assurance and the encouragement to allow their kids to return following a sufficient quarantine period.

“Despite efforts to remain open, attendance remains low due to fear. With a longer stay-home period for the children and teachers, there is more security for parents to send them back on a later date (March 16) and this is what we want at the end.”

Raja Nurul Huda said a total closure of the session would relieve the stress on teachers, who had to cope with the quarantine of 17 of their colleagues.

“They can move to online learning (seamlessly) with proper schedules and approach. This is because it is difficult for a limited numbers of teachers to do both offline and online classes effectively.

“With proper online classes, learning during the temporary closure can be beneficial to all parties without leaving the quarantined students behind,” she said in the petition registered on Monday night.

Meanwhile, M. Ravin said his son was barred from sitting for the Chemistry and Additional Mathematics paper this week after a classmate was confirmed as having Covid-19 last Monday.

“Now he and his 13 classmates can only take their affected papers in April. He was made to take his first swab test on Friday (March 5) and his next swab test is on March 13.

“He may also be missing his Biology test on March 16 if the test results do not come out on time.”

Ravin said that while the move was understandable due to the pandemic, the stress faced by students, parents and teachers was no small matter.

“After a year of delays, they also need the assurance that they will get their results at the same time with those who took the paper first. My son and his friends are also concerned that their paper will be harder.

“A lot of resources and time have gone into this. Like him, I was also disappointed and felt they should have been allowed to take their test as they were cleared on their first swab.

“The teachers and students pumped in so much of time and energy into preparing and taking exams during the pandemic.”

Efforts to reach both schools were unsuccessful. The New Straits Times is also seeking replies from the district health and education offices on the matter.

Senior Minister (Education) Datuk Dr Radzi Jidin earlier said primary school pupils would return to classes in two groups starting March 1. Pre-schoolers as well as Year 1 and 2 pupils would be the first group to return to school on March 1, while pupils in Year 3 to 6 would resume classes on March 8.

Public health expert Dr Safiya Amaran said the district health office’s decision in the case of SKSJ was correct.

“This is because they quarantined the teachers and students while closing the classes affected. Yes, the district health office can extend it to other students or people they think are close contacts of the patients under investigations or persons under surveillance.

“But if parents are concerned, then the quarantine and school closure can be extended. This is something the schools or the district education office can do,” said the medical lecturer from Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin.

Parent Action Group for Education (PAGE) president Datin Noor Azimah Abdul Rahim also said the standard operating procedure for the situation should be followed.

“In the meantime, let parents decide whether they want to send their children to school.”

Source: NST