KUCHING: The state government has been urged to put pre-schools on hold until it is really safe for the children to resume classes.
Sarawak Teachers’ Union (STU) president Macky Joseph said it would be very difficult for very young children (preschoolers) to follow the standard operating procedures (SOPs) at such places. Apart from that, pre-school activities normally involved the children to be in groups. Hence, it would be difficult for them to comprehend the new norm.
As of January this year, a total of 22,959 children were registered in government pre-schools conducted in 1,521 classrooms state wide.
“They will be coming to make new friends and thus, there will are close contact with one another as younger children are usually highly active beings.
“As such, physical interaction will occur frequently and it is crucial for pre-schools to ensure that the children will not be infected in any way,” he said in a press statement on Sunday.
According to Macky, it would be burdensome for the teachers to ensure that children comply with the SOPs while at the same time teaching.
“STU foresees teachers be doing much more ‘caretaking’ than teaching.
“So, STU urges the ministry concerned to find out how the teachers feel on ground, as a teacher’s priority is to teach,” he said.
He suggested that government pre-schools in the state wait until the recovery movement control order (RMCO) period is over, before reopening for business.
“Pre-schoolers are very young, they still have weak immunity in their bodies — and they should be protected,” he stated.
