WHEN school reopens, Mohamad Saufi Shafie and some parents will volunteer to take the temperatures of returning pupils and make sure they line up properly before entering their classrooms.

Parents of SMK Rawang are also donating banners to remind pupils to practise safety measures at all times and to sit and stand 1m apart.

Before the form five classes start on June 24, their parents will also help teachers clean the school and sanitise classrooms.

The parents are worried as Malaysia continues to record new Covid-19 cases daily.

After reaching a daily low of two new cases on June 10, the number of new infections shot up again to 31 on Thursday and 33 the next day, bringing the national tally to 8,402.

“Our kids are excited to go back to school because they’re returning from a long holiday,” said Saufi, whose youngest son will be sitting from the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM).

“But we as parents are worried if they will follow the SOP (standard operating procedures),” said Saufi, who is part of the school’s parent-teacher association (PIBG).

Other parents share SMK Rawang’s concerns as public schools reopen in phases from June 24.

Form five and six pupils will be the first batch to return to schools so that they can prepare for national exams which have been deferred to next April.

Strict SOPs have been put in place to maintain social distancing and prevent physical contact at all times.

Yet C.K. Moy is not confident about these assurances given that coronavirus carriers can be asymptomatic and not realise that they’ve been infected.

“Schools can take a pupil’s temperature but it doesn’t guarantee that the person is virus-free,” the mother of a form three son from Kuala Lumpur told The Malaysian Insight.

“The government is not looking at other aspects. If one pupil gets infected, he or she will bring the virus home, thus risking especially elderly folk.

“A lot of problems need to be addressed before the schools reopen. I just think they can wait a few more months. They need to reconsider their decision.”

Juhaidi Mohd Ramli of Negri Sembilan echoed this sentiment, saying that Malaysia should be first declared free of Covid-19 before schools reopen.

“It is just like the health director-general said, there should be no new infections for 28 days first before we can be declared Covid-19-free. Only then should we think about reopening,” said the mother of a form four pupil. 

Juhaidi said although the SOP will be in place, there are worries that teachers and administrators cannot ensure that all pupils practise them at all times.

Teens will be teens 

Besides daily temperature checks, the new SOP for schools slashes the number of pupils per class to between 15 and 20 depending on the size of the school.

Desks will be spaced 1m apart from each other and schoolwork will only focus on individual assignments. There will be no morning assemblies, sports or co-curricular activities.

Pupils will remain in class during recess and one pupil will buy and bring back food from the canteen to prevent crowding.

The reopening will only be for form five and six and the decision on when to open for other forms and for primary school will be made later.

Even the best SOPs are only guidelines, said parent A. Murugiah, adding that there is no guarantee teenagers will follow them at all times.

“We’re talking about teenagers. When we tell them not to do something, that is when they would want to try it,” said Murugiah from Kuala Lumpur.

“We’ve passed this phase ourselves, so we know how they think,” he said. He has a form six daughter who will be returning to school later this month.

“I am in a dilemma because although I don’t want my kids to fall further behind in studies, I am also worried about their health. The virus is invisible and some people who have it do not have symptoms.”

Kuching parent Desmond Kho has decided to trust that the authorities have flattened the rate of infection as they claimed.

“They are the experts. Moreover, life has to go on. Can’t be forever living in fear. I am putting my faith in the authorities but my son has mixed feelings about returning to school.

“He’s conscientious in his online studies but he also misses his friends.”

Saufi, the parent from Rawang, said one way to ease these worries is for parents to get involved with the school and to aid teachers and administrators.

“You can’t put all of the burden on teachers and the staff because they can’t monitor your kids all the time. At the same time, we can’t just coop up our kids forever.

“It is not just within school but outside of school, when they start returning home,” said Saufi.

“The whole community must be vigilant and ensure that kids don’t form crowds or groups or that they don’t go somewhere to lepak first before coming home. After all they’re kids and adults must be responsible and guide them.” – June 14, 2020.