AS school resumes, parents’ groups want action to be taken against teachers who are yet to be vaccinated against Covid-19.

They acknowledged that some teachers who were previously vaccine-hesitant have decided to get inoculated following a public outcry.

Parent Action Group for Education chairman Noor Azimah Abdul Rahim said the schools have made it clear to teachers that they would be given desk jobs if they refuse the shots.

“Some schools have even shunned these teachers, making it difficult for them. We ourselves had advocated for teachers to retire or resign gracefully for the safety of students,” she told The Malaysian Insight.

“Unvaccinated teachers must take weekly PCR tests at their own expense even if they do not (directly interact with) students.”

Malacca Action Group for Parents in Education chairman Mak Chee Kin was perplexed that no action has been taken against unvaccinated teachers.

“This is in spite of a Public Service Department circular on October 18, 2021 stating that on or after November 1, any officer who fails to comply with the head of department’s instructions (to get jabbed) may result in disciplinary action or termination of service,” he said.

Mak said the state education department was still counselling the small number of unvaccinated teachers to get the injections.

“What can the school administrators do to protect the students, allay the fears of parents and not risk being infected themselves by these teachers?”

“But since it is government policy to take action against public servants such as teachers (who are unvaccinated), we really would like to see the government walk the talk.

“They can’t just pass the ball to the school principals without clear instructions on how they should deal with these teachers,” he said.

He said apart from isolating the teachers, the school cannot take any other action.

“Why can’t they just bar these teachers from reporting to work like how we are not allowed to dine out or enter shopping malls if we are not fully vaccinated?

“We know there are legal issues here but there are other actions that can be taken such as transferring these stubborn teachers to somewhere far.”

He said the Education Ministry must know what to do with the teachers who are adamant about not getting vaccinated.

Deputy Education Minister Dr Mah Hang Soon said as of October 31 last year, 99.04% of teachers had received at least one dose of the vaccine while 97.5% were fully vaccinated.

School reopened on January 9 in Johor, Kedah, Kelantan and Terengganu and  a day later in Malacca, Negri Sembilan, Pahang, Perak, Perlis, Penang, Sabah, Sarawak, Selangor, Kuala Lumpur, Labuan and Putrajaya. – January 15, 2022.