KUCHING:The Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) has decided to postpone the reopening of primary and secondary schools in Kuching, Padawan and Samarahan from Aug 3 to Aug 17.
In a statement yesterday, SDMC said the postponement would be extended to 25 more schools in Padawan and 24 more schools in Samarahan, involving remove class, Form One to Four, Lower Form Six, and Primary One to Six.
With this, the postponement, thus far, involves 213 schools — 164 which were initially supposed to resume on Aug 3, and the rest consisting the new additions.
Of the 213 schools, 87 are in Kuching, 99 in Padawan and 27 in Samarahan.
This decision was based on the advice of the State Health Department and National Security Council Sarawak, as well as the agreement of all parties, including the State Education Department.
“Preschool, Form Five and Upper Form Six classes will continue as usual,” said SDMC.
On another matter, SDMC announced that the state government is collaborating with Sarawak Volunteers to introduce a new initiative to assist Sarawakian students who would be heading to West Malaysia and Labuan to enrol for their matriculation, which will start on Aug 3.
“As the Sarawak government has set a new standard operating procedure (SOP) for entry into Sarawak, this will impact parents going to West Malaysia and Labuan to enrol their children.”
SDMC explained that this initiative is aimed at assisting matriculation students that are not accompanied by their parents.
“Sarawak Volunteers will assist from when the student lands at the airport to their matriculation centre destination,” SDMC said, adding that a total of 1,145 Sarawakian students are expected to enrol in 16 matriculation centres throughout the country.
When the students landed at their respective airports, Sarawak Volunteers would manage the following — directly sending them to the matriculation centre; or provide temporary accommodation before being taken to the matriculation centre; or for those heading to Labuan through Miri, temporary accommodation would be provided before sending the student to Miri Airport to head to Labuan.
According to Sarawak Volunteers’ Facebook page, registration can be done through https://bit.ly/2X5iqUh and the closing date for registration is Aug 1, at noon.
Flight tickets would be managed and borne by the students themselves. More information can be found at the Sarawak Volunteers’ Facebook page.
