On July 17, the Ministry of Education (MoE) announced that schools will reopen in stages from Sept 1. To this aim, MoE has been working closely with the Health Ministry, the National Security Council, and the Covid-19 Immunisation Task Force (CITF) to ensure the safety of students, teachers and staff.

In the report, MoE stated that 253,366 teachers and 10,876 school staff had received at least their first vaccination shot.

However, CITF also declared that the Covid-19 vaccine would not be administered to children below 17 to avoid myocarditis and pericarditis. As such, the task force will be finalising the guidelines on administering the Pfizer vaccine only to at-risk children.

While SOPs for the reopening of schools have yet to be released, students, teachers and  other school staff will be expected to adhere to the wearing of face masks, sanitisation of high-touch areas, daily temperature checks, abiding by the one-metre social distancing rule, and isolating those showing flu-like symptoms.

However, according to a poll taken by School Advisor, 115 respondents said they were still unwilling to send their children to school this September, citing fears for their safety.

That said, let’s have a look at how other countries in the region are handling the issue.

Singapore

Children between 12 to 15 years old in Singapore are receiving the Pfizer vaccine, and a majority of students have returned to school in stages since June 28 with stringent measures in place.

All the same, Singapore authorities are ensuring that there is fewer contact between students by reducing the number the activities that require them to remove their masks.

There are also strict rules to ensure there is no overcrowding. Meanwhile, students and school staff showing flu-like symptoms are to be isolated immediately.

Despite the hike in the number of Covid-19 cases, Singapore has no plans to close schools as no transmission of the virus has been recorded at schools.

Indonesia

While students in Jakarta returned to school on June 10, Palembang, northern Sumatra, Bali, and Java have all cancelled their school reopening plans as the number of Covid-19 cases continues to increase.

According to Indonesia’s health minister, schools that have reopened in Jakarta have had to adhere to strict SOPs. This includes admitting only 25% of students at any one time and limiting attendance to twice per week.

These SOPs also include the constant wearing of face masks and the prohibition on chatting amongst students. The remaining students, on the other hand, are to continue online lessons from home.

As of July 22, around 548,000 children between the ages of 12 to 17 have been vaccinated, whereas teachers and school staff have been receiving Covid-19 vaccines since Feb 24. Foreign teachers ages 18 and above have also been reassured that they will be vaccinated for free.

Thailand

All schools in Thailand reopened on June 14 except in cities such as Bangkok, Nonthaburi, Pathum Thani, and Samut Prakan.

Meanwhile schools in 17 red and 59 orange areas will conduct lessons using five specific methods: on-air (television), online, on-demand (mobile application), on-hand (learning materials delivered to homes), and on-site (face-to-face learning).

Schools that opt for on-site learning are strongly advised to put students’ and teachers’ health as a top priority.

This comes on the back of a boarding school in Lampang District that was put under strict quarantine one week after reopening in early July. Thankfully, all students and teachers infected with the coronavirus were treated and quarantined accordingly.

On June 24, Thailand’s education ministry established the Centre for Covid-19 Situation to help deal with coronavirus cases that may arise in schools. The task force is also looking into vaccinating educators and staff, and communicating data and spreading awareness.

Brunei

Up until Aug 8, Brunei recorded over 400 days without local Covid-19 infections. While the country is hard at work to stem its first local infection in 15 months, it is still on course to achieve its third phase of vaccinating citizens and non-citizens over the age of 18.

The first and second phases prioritise inoculating international students, teachers and childcare staff in the country.

Schools have been reopened in stages since June, with priority admission given to students in Year 7 to 12 in government schools. International school operators were allowed to mandate their own schools’ reopening.

As can be seen, Malaysia’s neighbours are coping well with the reopening of schools, specifically in terms of implementing the necessary Covid-19 guidelines and SOPs.

More importantly, this sheds some light on how Malaysia can approach the reopening of schools to ensure that students can return to learning in a physically safe environment.

Schooladvisor.my provides information on private and international schools, extra-curricular activities as well as other education-related topics in Malaysia.