THE Government should address cases of COVID-19 in schools as parents, teachers and other staffers are getting anxious.
“In the last few days, we are hearing cases of COVID-19 infections among students and teachers, which is definitely worrying many of us.
“For example, SK Taman Cempaka in Johor has been closed until yesterday after three pupils, a teacher and a staff member were found positive for COVID-19.
“SK Bukit Jenun in Kedah was also closed after a teacher was found infected. However, none of our Government leaders have address the situation to the public,” Zahid Hamidi said in a Facebook post.
On March 21, the Opposition bloc’s education committee voiced concerns over rising cases of COVID-19 infection at schools, which may create new clusters and impede the Government’s move to stem the pandemic.
The committee lashed out at the Education Ministry (MOE) for not being forthcoming on the data, leaving little room for the community to step up their own efforts to protect schools.
“The Government has called for the people to cooperate with them in stemming the pandemic and yet the latter are not given authority, space and resources to get involved in the matter.
“That is why we have urged the Government to provide autonomy to schools, on whether to continue to reopen their premises or otherwise if there are COVID-19 cases detected there,” it was reported saying.
Touching on the matter, Zahid said this was the time the Government should step up efforts to alleviate concerns by parents and teachers, by having more “special address”.
The Umno president added that parents need to feel confident that their kids are safe, and whether the standard operating procedures (SOP) applied in schools are sufficient to curb COVID-19 spread there.
“And we need consider special needs children as they are categorised as high-risk. I’m just worried the Government would just brush off the two incidents as isolated cases.
“Never take things for granted. There is no such thing as isolated incident when it comes to human lives. The authorities are duty bound to protect our children, no matter the cost,” the Bagan Datuk MP remarked. – March 26, 2021
