Teachers refusing vaccination may be transferred if PdP affected

Senior Education Minister Datuk Dr Radzi Jidin said one of the solutions being mulled in the interest of the students' safety was to transfer the teachers out.

"Previously, unvaccinated teachers could not teach face-to-face but must be present in school, where they are put in a special place and given assignments.

"However, if we look at this data, we find that at certain schools there are teachers who refuse to be vaccinated teaching the same subjects, so how can we continue learning in this context," he told reporters after visiting the Langkawi Vocational College here yesterday.

He said this issue should not be allowed to prolong and transfers, including interstate, might be carried out to resolve it.

Radzi said that even in the early stages, teachers who refused to be vaccinated had been advised and given sufficient time to get their vaccine jabs.

"Of the 2,500 teachers who refused to be vaccinated, now there are only about 2,000 of them. This may look like a small number but we cannot let this go on and we must take immediate action," he said.

He said his ministry was waiting for the Public Service Department to decide on the appropriate form of action to be taken against the teachers.

On the vaccination of teenagers, he said although he could not make any conclusion regarding the process now, it does look to be running very well and in an orderly manner.

"The vaccination programme for teenagers just started and we are monitoring parents' acceptance... but, so far, there is good acceptance and parents are determined in sending their children to get vaccinated and we will continue to monitor the situation," he said.