5 Things you need to know about School Reopening on 3 October

Yesterday (12 September), the Education Minister, Dr Radzi Jidin had in a press conference announced the latest SOPs and matters relating to the upcoming reopening of schools on 3 October.

Among the matters that were communicated in the press conference were as follows:

1. School in States under Phase 1 and 2 to remain closed

Dr Radzi said that schools in states under Phase 1 will remained closed, while those in states under Phase 2 will continue the Teaching and Learning at Home (PdPR) programme except for special needs students (primary and secondary) and students who will be taking major examinations in the near.

As for schools in states under Phase 3, primary school students are to continue having classes online, while secondary school students who will be having major examinations in the near future will be having physical classes.

Secondary students who will be sitting for international exams or SPM, SVM, STAM and STPM exam takers will be allowed to go for physical classes on a rotation basis.

Special needs students (primary and secondary) along with preschool and private kindergarten students will be allowed to go back to physical classes without rotation.

For schools in states under Phase 4, physical learning will be fully allowed, but it is subject to a risk assessment from time to time.

2. Rotation basis

Starting 3 October, a rotation basis will be introduced in the physical classes, and this is done to ensure that classes were running only at 50% of their full capacity. However, there were exceptions to this and they are for students from the following category:

• Special needs student
• Students who will be having major examinations
• Full boarding school student
• Pre-school and kindergarten students
• Schools with few students

3. Uniform not required

Students who are returning to school are allowed to wear anything that is deemed appropriate, neat and polite.

School uniforms is no longer a requirement.

4. Option to not attend school

Parents and guardians must write in to the school’s administration for their records if they choose not to send their child to school.

These students will be required to continue learning with PdPR too.

5. Schooling year

The 2021 schooling year will be extended to March 2022. Hence, the first year students in 2022 will start school sessions in March 2022.

Watch the full press conference here: