PARENTS of pupils want to know more about a Covid-19 outbreak in a primary school in Setia Alam, Selangor, after three children from different classes tested positive for the virus last weekend.

They told Malaysian Insight they have not been been sufficiently informed about the situation by the authorities and that they are worried for their children. 

Some questioned why SK Setia Alam remains open after about 30 teachers have been told to self-quarantine and submit to swab tests.

The infected pupils are said to be in Years Two, Five and Six.

 The three classes have been closed pending deep cleaniing and disinfection while the other pupils are in self-isolation and will be tested for infection today.

There are 120 teachers and 2,000 pupils at the school.

“We have not been not informed about these latest cases. What we know is that there are three students from three different classes who tested positive,” said a parent who requested anonymity.

“We are relying on hearsay. One will say this and another something else. We are not sure what to believe because there is no official statement from the school management,” said the parent.

Another parent said that they also needed more information about the three infected students as many Malay students from the school also attended religtious classes elsewhere, thus increasing the risk of more infections.

“That is why we need to know more. The three students may also go to kafa schools and we want to know which kafa school.”

It is learnt that many parents have opted to keep their children home after learning about the infections.

Parents said that teachers were combining classes because not many students were attending school.

“I feel the school must take a drastic action by closing down temporarily. After all the tests are done and after all verifications are completed, the school can reopen,” said a parent.

 ‘Some information is classified’

Parent-Teacher Association chairman Zairul Ermady Mohd Shahali said the school cannot share information without the approval of the district education office.

“The school has guidelines (to obey). It has to go through some channels before they can share information to parents and the school cannot decide to close. The district education office has the say.

“However as far as I am concerned, the school has already shared the necessary information, such as for example, which classes are affected and that the students from the classrooms need to self-isolate.

“These sorts of information have been given to each representative of each class. What more can the school share? Some information is classified.”

He urged parents to stay calm and wait for the swab tests which the affected students and teacher will be taking on Thursday.

“I am also a parent and I am also worried about my children. But we need to stay calm and wait for an official update. Let us hope for good news,” said Zairul.

Last week, The Malaysian Insight reported parent-teacher groups at Chinese schools calling for better compliance with Covid-19 standard operating procedures (SOP) to prevent the spread of infections, as clusters linked to education facilities were on the rise.

Twenty such clusters were reported between March 20 and April 4.

Since January, when school opened, until March, 41 such clusters were reported in secondary, primary and pre-schools.

On Tuesday, parents from a school in Petaling Jaya urged authorities to close the school after six pupils were found to be infected.

SJK(C) Puay Chai 2 parent-teacher association chairman Loh Tian Hong was reported as saying that the family of a pupil as well as 11 teachers now in home quarantine.

Loh said school headmistress had applied to the Health Ministry to temporarily close the school but was rejected as the government did not consider the cases to be a cluster.

It was reported that school headmistress Soh Swee Koon had confirmed that a circular informing parents about the outbreak had been sent out.

The infected students are said to be in Years Two, Four and Five. Five classes have been shut down. – April 15, 2021.