Education Ministry wants to know if parents are ready to allow their kids back to school

With daily COVID-19 cases nationwide still unabated, the Education Ministry has issued a memo to state education directors and principals to get feedback from parents on reopening schools on September 1.

Malay Mail sighted a memo signed by the Education Ministry’s Chief Inspector of Schools for a survey to gauge the readiness of parents in allowing their children to return to school in Phase Three of the National Recovery Plan (NRP).

According to the memo, the move to run the survey follows an August 7 decision made by the ministry’s highest authority.

“The respective state and branch chief inspector of schools will contact the state education director and district education officers to inform them of this matter before contacting parents or guardians with children enrolled in Form Three, Form Five, Form Six or Standard Six,” the memo reads.

The memo also states that as many as 4,500 parents or guardians throughout the state will be called up by the Inspector of Schools between August 11 and August 12.

However, Malay Mail’s check found the deadline for the survey has since lapsed.

Malay Mail understands that apart from phone calls, some schools were also given Google Form links to be distributed to parents.

The memo underscores the hesitancy expressed by parents in sending their children back to school seeing that there are no fixed standard operating procedures (SOP) in place.

Last month, the Education Ministry announced that schools will reopen in stages for face-to-face classes starting from September 1.

The ministry reportedly said that home-based teaching and learning will continue until August 31.

According to the ministry, this applies to all government schools, government-aided schools, private schools and educational institutions registered with them.

Malay Mail has contacted the Education Ministry for further clarification. — Malay Mail

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