Terengganu, Kelantan, Langkawi take lead as schools reopen after six-month closure

KUALA LUMPUR: Face-to-face school sessions resumed in Terengganu, Kelantan and Langkawi today, kicking off the reopening of schools which were shut nationwide for about six months following the spread of COVID-19.

In Terengganu, 35,438 students turned up at their schools while 2,159 students reported for classes in Langkawi.

They included those who will be sitting for their Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) and Sijil Tinggi Persekolahan Malaysia (STPM) examinations, special needs (MBK) or Integrated Special Education Programme (PPKI) students and pre-school pupils.

Terengganu has moved into Phase Three of the National Recovery Plan (PPN) while Langkawi is under the travel bubble following provisions of Phase 4 of the four-phase PPN.

In Kelantan, which is in Phase Two of PPN, only STPM semester two students, students with special needs at Sekolah Kebangsaan Pendidikan Khas and PPKI students will attend schools.

Tomorrow, face-to-face school sessions will begin in Pahang, Melaka, Selangor, Putrajaya, Kuala Lumpur, Negeri Sembilan, Penang, Perak, Sabah, Perlis, Sarawak and Labuan, with attendance of students according to the PPN phases the states are under.

The reopening of schools in Langkawi involved 25 primary schools with 852 students, including six schools for PPKI and 19 pre-schools.

The rest were 13 secondary schools with 1,306 students, which included five schools for PPKI (140 students), two schools for Form 6 semester two (138 students) and six schools with a rotation system for 1,028 Form Five students.

In Terengganu, it involved 17,193 SPM candidates, and 4,873 STPM students, with 2,166 being students from Semester Two and 2,707 from Semester One.

Apart from this, 2,566 MBK or PPKI students and 10,806 pre-school pupils also reported to schools in the state.

Senior Education Minister Datuk Radzi Jidin took the opportunity to visit Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Sultan Sulaiman this morning to check on the first day of school reopening, accompanied by Terengganu Education Department director Salim Ab Ghani.

Checks by Bernama found that compliance with the standard operating procedure (SOP) was at a satisfactory level among students, teachers and parents at the schools.

The SOP includes teachers recording attendance and taking body temperatures, the use of hand sanitiser liquid, students following the arrows marked for entry and exit within the school compound, as well as maintaining physical distancing in classrooms.

Students staying at boarding schools and day schools are also required to undergo COVID-19 screening tests to curb the spread of the virus in schools.

Bernama's checks at the Butterworth Vocational School in Penang found that students who returned to the hostel were required to take screening tests using self-test kits, and those found positive would be asked to undergo home quarantine.

Most of the students and parents interviewed said they were looking forward to the reopening of schools tomorrow, and were satisfied with the SOP implementation to reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission.

Mohd Aliff Mohd Anas, 17, said he was happy to return to school as he felt that he had attended the home-based Teaching and Learning at Home (PdPR) session for a long time.

"We need to follow the stipulated SOP; we have gone through it (face-to-face session) previously, so this is not a problem, but it is very important to curb the spread of COVID-19. Alhamdullilah, I have received the first dose of the vaccine," he told reporters.

His mother, Siti Anisah Abdul Aziz, 47, said she welcomed the face-to-face schooling session as the SPM examination was coming up soon.

"There is a sense of worry, but when you look at the preparations and SOPs, it seems like a good preparation by the Education Ministry. So this is the time for them to go back to school, and with the students having received their vaccination, it feels safer," she said.

Most of the students met by Bernama at Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Raja Sakti in Kota Bharu, Kelantan said they were more confident to return to school today since most of them were fully vaccinated.

Anita Daud, a 47-year-old mother, said she is confident in the capability of the teachers to monitor SOP compliance among students to curb the spread of COVID-19.

-- BERNAMA