The Malaysian Insight

THE government’s decision to reopen schools next month is to ensure that pupils will not get left behind in their studies, Education Minister Mohd Radzi Md Jidin said today.

Although it can close the schools until year end, it decided against it as the delay will lead to more pupils falling behind in their education, he said.

“I know many have questioned why we didn’t close the schools until year end and resume in-person teaching next year. If we do that, more of our children will be away from their natural learning environment for too long,” he told the Dewan Rakyat.

“The easiest way out would be to close the schools, but as a responsible government, we have to take the best way forward.”

Radzi was answering questions from Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman (Muar-Independent) about the long-term impact of school closure due to the Covid-19 epidemic.

About five million pupils and 500,000 teachers have been affected by the on-and-off school closures since the epidemic started in March last year, he said.

Based on a report by Unesco, Radzi said the school closures in Malaysia were three times the rate of other countries.

Schools will reopen on October 3 for physical learning in states in phases three and four of the national recovery plan.

Schools in states that are still in phases one, two and three will continue with home-based online learning (PdPR), except for pupils who are sitting exams.

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