All pupils in primary and secondary schools are to stay at home and follow online classes from Jan 20, the education ministry announced yesterday in a reversal of an announcement made last week.

It said only those taking public examinations will go back to school when the school year reopens on Jan 20.

However, all kindergartens registered with the ministry are allowed to continue holding classes.

The Muar MP said he was earlier baffled by the ministry’s decision to reopen schools on Jan 20 even though it was widely expected that Covid-19 cases would be at dangerous levels.

“I’m not sure why the education ministry made another last-minute decision like this,” he said in a Facebook post today.

Syed Saddiq questioned the bad timing of the announcement, made on a Saturday evening.

Further, he said the ministry ought to understand the impact of the decision on parents.

“Parents have already bought school supplies, school uniforms, school equipment and paid school fees, among other things,” he said, adding that some parents had even sent their children to hostels, not knowing the schools would be closed.

He urged the ministry not to use the Covid-19 crisis as an excuse to do last-minute work that caused inconvenience to many.

“It has been almost a year since the pandemic spread in Malaysia,” he added.