KUCHING: The Sarawak Teachers’ Union (STU) welcomed the announcement to implement a weekly rotation system for primary and secondary school students who can return to school starting Oct 3.
Its president Adam Parkash Abdullah said schools have been closed for too long and the announcement was surely a long awaited news for students, parents and teachers.
“We are happy with the arrangement where only 50 per cent of the total enrolment can come to school at a time on a weekly rotation system, this would make schools and classrooms less crowded,” he said.
However, he said the Education Ministry, state government and Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) need to reassess the situation here and make good recommendations on the situation. This is because the state has been reporting high daily Covid-19 cases in the country, with 5,219 on Sunday (yesterday).
“We are eager for children and teachers to return to school and continue face to face interactions. We are not against the reopening of schools but will not be party to force them to return when the situation is still unsafe.”
STU, he said, advised all teachers to prepare themselves emotionally as it would be a daunting task to make students mentally prepared to be in school after the long absence.
“We have to be more accommodating to students’ reactions, and attitude towards learning and concentrating on lessons. We also urge parents to help motivate their children and provide support so they will want to return to school again,” he added.
Meanwhile, Adam said the union hoped the Covid-19 vaccination programme for those below 18 will go on smoothly, to ensure students are better protected from getting infected by the virus when they return to school. -NST