SCHOOLS have been given permission to improve Covid-19 standard operating procedures (SOPs) depending on the school environment and requirements from time to time.

Deputy Education Minister Muslimin Yahaya said the ministry provides schools with the opportunity to improve the SOPs, not necessarily be restricted to existing guidelines alone.

“Earlier, when formulating the SOPs for schools to facilitate their reopening, it was simulation-based.

“The two-day period will help us view practically the real situation and guidelines (SOPs) issued, which were earlier considered theoretically only,” he told Bernama during a working visit to the State Sports School, Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Syed Hassan in Kangar today.

Muslimin said he was satisfied with the opening of schools complying with SOPs in Perlis, based on his visit to a few schools in the state.

“In terms of student safety, I see the schools are very committed and I am confident that what the schools are doing is monitored by the Perlis State Education Department,” he said.

Meanwhile, in another development, Muslimin said they would make every effort to continue the construction project of the Malaysian Sports School in Perlis, Bukit Chabang, which had been abandoned for the past eight years.

Earlier, the media had reported that the project costing about RM140 million should have been completed in February this year.

“The Education Ministry will continue to re-tender the project and will choose a contractor with a four-star rating and above. The rating does not come from us, but from the Construction Industry Development Board of Malaysia,” he said. – Bernama, June 25, 2020.