Allowing schools to reopen in stages a good move – Chai

KUCHING: The decision to allow schools to reopen in stages commencing July 15 after a prolonged break due to Movement Control Order is well-received as face-to-face interaction is more effective in student’s learning process, said Jonathan Chai.

Chai, who is president of the Association of the Boards of Management of Aided Chinese Primary Schools in Kuching, Samarahan and Serian Divisions, opined there were weaknesses in home-based learning approaches, be it online teaching or other appropriate methods.

“In particular, many students in the rural and remote areas could not participate in online learning due to limited access to communication technology,” he said when asked to comment.

As a result, Chai felt that home-based learning was not as effective compared to faceto-face interaction in a proper classroom setup and there were also concerns that any prolonged closure of schools would ‘further widen’ the standards between urban and rural students.

Besides, Chai said the rationale on cutting short the year-end holidays was understandable as such move was deemed necessary to ensure students have sufficient learning time and to prepare for the following year.

“There’s a minimum teaching hours for each subject to enable the teachers conduct the requisite assessment on the students and therefore, it’s imperative for the teachers to have enough time to finish off the syllabus for the year,” he said.

Touching on the models of operations for schools to adhere to the social distancing requirement, Chai said most schools with reasonable student population of less than a thousand are expected to adopt the first model – that is school lessons are conducted within one session. He explained the second model is a dual session for schools that are not able to accommodate all their students in one session and the third model should be the last option if schools failed to operate under the second model.

Clarifying on the third model, Education Minister Dr Mohd Radzi Md Jidin said Form Five and Six students must attend school daily while Form One to Four students take turns according to

With the minor adjustment in the guidelines, I think all schools would most likely be able now to conduct lessons in one session. Jonathan Chai

their stream or class.

“From the information gathered from the aided Chinese primary schools in Kuching, Samarahan and Serian divisions, the schools concerned are expected to choose the first model of operation as the space capacity of the classrooms are generally big enough to keep the one-metre social distancing between shoulder to shoulder of students as required by the standard operating procedures.”

Initially, Chai said some of the bigger schools in Kuching like SJK Chung Hua No. 2,3,4 and 6 looked set to operate under the second or third models because the original standard operating procedures required social distancing of one-metre between desks of students.

“With the minor adjustment in the guidelines, I think all schools would most likely be able now to conduct lessons in one session.

“Otherwise it would be burdensome on the teachers to take up double sessions of teaching and it would also be inconvenient for the parents to juggle around with their time in fetching their children in different hours.”

To reduce the risk of infection and for the sake of their own safety, Chai remarked it is crucial for students to adapt to the new norms as a way of life in school, such as wearing face mask and washing hands frequently.