KUALA LUMPUR: The 2021 school session set to begin this Jan 20 will not involve face-to-face learning.
This new directive was announced by the Education Ministry in a statement tonight.
While virtual learning would only involve schools in states and federal territories under the movement control order (MCO), this new directive now applies to all schools registered under the ministry, nationwide.
This follows a surge in the number of Covid-19 cases which has seen Malaysia register an all-time high of 4,029 new cases over the past 24 hours.
Those who are allowed to be present in schools are only students that will sit for the 2020 Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM), Sijil Vokasional Malaysia (SVM), Sijil Kemahiran Malaysia (SKM), Sijil Tinggi Persekolahan Malaysia (STPM), Sijil Tinggi Agama Malaysia (STAM) and Diploma Vokasional Malaysia (DVM) as well as other international level exams certified by the ministry.
"All primary school students and secondary students from Form 1 to Form 5 will undergo virtual teaching and learning from home (PdPR) according to the suitability between teachers and students beginning Jan 20, 2021," the ministry said.
"The decision was made following a discussion conducted between the Education Ministry together with the Health Ministry as well as the National Security Council following the surge in new cases recorded on Jan 16 and the incremental trend of new infections registered by the country of late," read the statement.
The ministry, in the statement, also noted that there were secondary school students at fully residential schools and daily boarding schools who had returned and registered with their respective institutions today.
Hence, the ministry said these students have the option to remain at their hostels and undergo virtual learning and teaching at their respective schools or return to their homes and continue their studies using the PdPR method.
"Parents or guardians are allowed to fetch the students from their respective schools at any time under strict compliance of the guidelines in place for those who decide to return home.
"For students who decide to remain at their respective hostels, their meals which include food and drinks would be prepared by their respective schools," the ministry said.
All teachers however are required to return to their work stations before Jan 20.
"Teachers who are teaching students who will be sitting for the SPM, SVM, STAM, SKM, or STPM examinations, as well as DVM for the year 2020, are required to return to schools to conduct physical classes.
"Attendance for teachers who are required to conduct PdPR will be decided based on the needs that will be determined by the respective heads of departments," the statement read.
All matriculation college students in MCO, Conditional MCO and Recovery MCO areas meanwhile will attend hybrid classes.
On the other hand, all students of Teacher Training Institutes (IPG) who have arrived at their respective hostels must remain at their respective campuses. Those who have yet to register, said the ministry, can choose to return to their respective campuses or remain at home.
Meanwhile, all private kindergartens registered with the ministry are allowed to continue conducting physical classes, regardless of MCO, CMCO or RMCO.
The government reinstated MCO in the states of Penang, Selangor, Melaka, Johor and Sabah as well as the federal territories of Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya and Labuan for two weeks starting Jan 13.