KUALA LUMPUR: Parents have been urged not to send their children to schools once the session resumes after the Chinese New Year holidays if they are symptomatic.
Senior Education Minister Datuk Dr Radzi Jidin said this applied especially to parents who took them out for holidaying during the period.
"This is to ensure the school environment remains safe and to reduce the risk of Covid-19 infections," he said in a video posted on his Facebook page today.
He said only 7.15 per cent of new cases reported between Jan 1 and Feb 1 were linked to education clusters, which was equivalent to 8,491 cases. Majority of the cases were reported from boarding schools.
Of the total 100 education clusters detected between the period, 96 of them were from institutions under the ministry involving 5,138 cases.
The remaining four clusters were detected at private educational institutions involving 356 cases.
"84 of the 96 clusters are reported from boarding schools involving 4,767 cases while the remaining 12 clusters are from non-boarding schools with 371 cases," he said.
He said the ministry had put strict standard operating procedures (SOPs) in place to curb the spread of the virus especially at boarding schools.
This includes frequent self testing of the students returning to hostels on the first, sixth and 14th day.
For non-public examination students, he said those who returned home for the Chinese New Year holidays were told to continue their classes online rather than return to school.
"This is to ensure students sitting for the exams in February and March are protected.
"With the cooperation of all parties, we believe that the school session can continue to run smoothly, orderly and safely," he added.