Unvaccinated students won't be stopped from returning to school - Mah
School students who cannot receive the Covid-19 vaccine or refuse to get inoculated will not be stopped from attending their classes, said Deputy Education Minister Mah Hang Soon.
Speaking at a press conference today, Mah said the decision was taken...
School students who cannot receive the Covid-19 vaccine or refuse to get inoculated will not be stopped from attending their classes, said Deputy Education Minister Mah Hang Soon.
Speaking at a press conference today, Mah said the decision was taken as every student has the right to get an education.
"There is no reason for us to refuse or deny the students from returning to school.
"But we will conduct counselling, especially for their parents. Because usually when a student refuses to get vaccinated, it is not because they do not want to but it is more their parents' decision," he said.
Mah was answering a question on whether the Education Ministry has decided on the matter.
According to the deputy minister, they believe that only a small number of students are either not ready to accept vaccination or reject it.
“We are still in the early stage of vaccinating school students. So at this juncture, we are not sure how many are refusing immunisation.
“I think overall, the number would not be high. So for now, we will monitor closely,” he said when asked if the Education Ministry has a plan specifically for unvaccinated students when they return to school.
The government this week started its National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme for adolescents, involving 3.2 million individuals aged between 12 and 17.
They are targeting to vaccinate at least 80 percent of the number by Jan 2022 or before the opening of the new school year.
No school will be sidelined
On a similar issue, Mah told reporters that no school and students would be sidelined in the immunisation programme, including private institutions.
“Our principle is to get as many students inoculated as soon as possible.
“It does not matter which stream or school they come from. This initiative is aimed at reopening schools,” he said.
According to Deputy Health Minister Dr Noor Azmi Ghazali, who spoke at the same press conference, the principals of private schools are to register their schools in the vaccination programme through the ministry’s Vaksin Anakku portal.
He said they will use data from the portal to schedule the students’ vaccination at private institutions.
Azmi also advised parents to follow the schedules, which would be given through their respective schools, and not to rush to the nearest vaccination centres to get their children inoculated.
“Do not worry, do not panic. We have enough vaccines for everybody,” he said.
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