KUCHING: Schools need to reopen safely, said St Thomas Secondary School management board chairman Edgar Ong.
He was referring to Senior Education Minister Datuk Dr Radzi Jidin’s recent announcement that the face-to-face school session which was postponed earlier following the spread of Covid-19, will be commencing in stages beginning March 1.
Ong said while the health and safety of all school staff and students is of supreme importance, those without recourse to online learning have suffered an entire year of disruption.
“We have to somehow strike a correct balance between maintaining our students’ wellbeing and their educational needs. Of course, this won’t be easy.
“However, we stand guided by both the Education Ministry (MOE) and the State Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) on this important decision,” he said when contacted recently.
Ong also noted that the new generation will need to learn to live with Covid-19 and any other potential viruses.
Meanwhile, the school’s management board president Datuk Danald Jute described the school reopening as “not an easy straightforward decision”.
“We all know that it (the reopening of schools) is fraught with difficulties, challenges and risks.
“However, we also know that nothing is more important on the roadmap to recovery than getting our children back to school,” he said.
