All Sabah schools ordered to close until Oct 25
COVID-19 | All schools in Sabah have been ordered to close beginning tomorrow until Oct 25 due to the risk of Covid-19 infection.
The Education Ministry said the decision was made following a National Security Council meeting chaired by Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin this morning, where the council agreed that the ministry should look into the necessity of closing schools in the state...
COVID-19 | All schools in Sabah have been ordered to close beginning tomorrow until Oct 25 due to the risk of Covid-19 infection.
The Education Ministry said the decision was made following a National Security Council (NSC) meeting chaired by Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin this morning, where the council agreed that the ministry should look into the necessity of closing schools in the state.
Presently, only schools in red zones in Sabah are required to close. As of today, the red zones are the districts of Kota Kinabalu, Kunak, Lahad Datu, Papar, Sandakan, Semporna, Tawau, and Tuaran.
A zone is classified as a red zone if it has more than 40 active cases, excluding imported, interstate, and interdistrict cases.
“Nevertheless, students in boarding schools located in red zones are required to remain in their hostels. Students in boarding schools located in green zones but whose home is in a red zone are likewise required to remain in their hostels.
“Schools will manage the safety of the welfare of the students concerned in the hostels,” the Education Ministry said in a statement today.
During the period of school closure, the ministry said school administrators are instructed to ensure teachers and students continue teaching and learning from home. A manual can be found on the Education Ministry’s website.
As for schools in the rest of the country, the Education Ministry said schools will no longer need to wait for the Health Ministry to conduct a risk assessment and advise on whether a closure is necessary, if there has been a Covid-19 case involving the school’s population.
“In light of the trend of increasing (Covid-19) cases, the special NSC meeting on Covid-19 management chaired by the prime minister this morning has decided that any school in the country that has a Covid-19 case would need to be closed for seven days by the Education Ministry without waiting for the Health Ministry’s risk assessment.
“This is to allow cleaning, disinfection, and contract tracing to be conducted by the Health Ministry.
“On this matter, schools that have a Covid-19 case would need to follow the Education Ministry’s guidelines on school closure,” it said in a separate statement.
As with the Sabah boarding schools, boarding school students in other states are to remain in place if either their school or home are located in a red zone.
The red zones outside of Sabah are the districts of Kota Setar in Kedah, and Klang in Selangor.
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