Students find first day of school reopening a bit different with new norms
TAWAU: Attending the first day of school re-opening yesterday was a bit different for many students due to the new norms after the Movement Control Order to curb the spread of Covid-19 which caused schools to be closed for more than three months.
Students said they had to get used to having their body temperature taken before being allowed to enter the school, remembering to bring face mask and hand sanitizer, and social distancing which is none of the norms due to Covid-19 pandemic.
For student Nur Zarith Sofea Binti Mokhtar Daud, 17, she said she is very happy to attend her first day at school after being confined to home since March 18.
However, she said she felt a bit awkward to have to comply with the school’s Standard Operating Procedure (SOP).
“I feel a little awkward because I have to sit within a set distance. In order to comply with the SOP, my class was split into two and there is only 15 of us in my class now,” she said.
Zarith said the SOP did not burden or affect her because she was grateful to be able to go to class.
As for her preparation, she said it was quite the same like the other students - having to wear a face mask and hand sanitiser but she was more careful with her stuff and tried not to share with other students.
Based on her observation, she said her school provides hand sanitizer and also added some facilities for washing hands but students brought their own face masks from home.
Zarith said she preferred going to school to online learning as she had experienced an unstable connection.
“Online learning was difficult for me to grasp the topic of what I was learning. This is because there are some constraints like internet problems. If the internet connection is weak, it is difficult for me to get the information clearly when the teacher was explaining,” she said.
Meanwhile, Muhammad Rosam Shafiq Bin Samsul, 17, who expressed his gratitude due to the reopening of schools, said he felt the situation a little bit different.
Rosam said that he felt awkward during his first day at school as he had never been in that situation before.
All the desks were arranged one metre apart and he said that he rarely talked to his friends in class.
Zarith and Rosam hoped that every student would be able to comply with all the SOPs to ensure that the students would be exposed no infection.