Covid-19: Kuching schools, educational institutions ordered to close

KUCHING: All schools and educational institutions in Kuching have been ordered to close due to the rising number of Covid-19 cases and Kuching’s current status as a red zone, the Education Ministry said in a statement late Wednesday night.

The closure will take place from Oct 30 to Nov 13 and will involve a total of 209 schools and institutions in the district, including all primary and secondary schools under the Education Ministry, Teacher-Education Institutes, matriculation colleges, and other private schools registered with the ministry.

“As directed by Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin on Oct 6 that all schools in red zones will remain closed until the situation improves, the Education Ministry is declaring the closure of all schools in Kuching District, which has currently been designated a red zone by the Health Ministry,” the statement read.

“Schools or institutions that have dorms are also hereby closed, and parents or guardians of students are requested to take their wards home. Those that wish to stay on in their dorms will be placed under the care of the dorm warden and have their dietary needs taken care of by the school or institution.

“Students that are scheduled to sit for international examinations will need to obtain a le er of authorisation from their respective schools to a end the examinations,” added the statement.

All schools have also been ordered by the ministry to continue the current teaching syllabus via online learning.

Any further updates or information regarding the closure of schools in Kuching can be obtained from www. moe.gov.my.

Kuching District was declared a red zone on Tuesday a er 49 locally transmi ed Covid-19 cases were reported in the past 14 days.

Sarawak classifies red zones as districts with more than 40 local transmissions in the last 14 days, yellow zones with one to 40 cases, and green zones with none.