Education minister Mohd Radzi Jidin said this was to protect students who would be sitting for the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) examination this year from Covid-19 infection.

“We will continue to ensure compliance with the SOPs in boarding schools, in particular. The ministry has also stepped up monitoring in schools to ensure all SOPs are being complied with,” he said in a video that was uploaded on his Facebook page.

Out of a cumulative 118,238 Covid-19 cases recorded from Jan 1 to Feb 1 this year, 8,451 cases (7.15%) were related to education clusters, while the remaining 109,787 (92.85%) involved other clusters.

There were 303 clusters recorded nationwide from Jan 1 to Feb 1, of which 100 clusters involved educational institutions under the ministry, while 86 clusters were from other institutions.

The 100 clusters of institutions under the ministry reported a total of 5,494 cases.

Of these clusters, a total of 84 involved boarding institutions, comprising 76 hostels and eight fully-residential institutions.

“If we take into account the total boarding institutions under the ministry, which is 1,918 institutions, these 84 clusters are equivalent to 4.38% of the total,” he added.

As for non-boarding institutions, he said, 12 clusters were recorded, involving two from secondary schools and 10 from primary schools.

“If we look at these 12 clusters and compare with the 8,356 non-boarding institutions under the ministry, it is 0.14% of the total,” he added.