Mah: Schools will close on district health office’s advice

SCHOOLS will only be closed by the Education Ministry during the Covid-19 pandemic on the advice of the district health office but unwilling parents will not be forced to send their children to school, reports Sin Chew Daily.

“Both the Education Minister Datuk Dr Radzi Jidin and Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Adham Baba have made it very clear. As long as the district health office advises us to do so, we have no problem,” Deputy Education Minister Datuk Dr Mah Hang Soon said on Monday.

Dr Mah pointed out that attendance rates have dropped to as low as 20% in some schools since classes resumed last month, but the ministry will not force unwilling parents to send their children to school.

> A mother from Beijing is suing a Chinese tech giant after her son bashed herself and her husband and attempted to burn down their house as a result of his addiction to gaming, reports China Press.

According to local media, the 18-year-old Xiao Ming’s (not his real name) addiction began in 2015 with online multiplayer games.

He became obsessed and stopped going to school, and stole over 50,000 yuan (RM31,669) from his parents to make in-game purchases.

The mother showed reporters bruises over her face, arms and scars from knife wounds she claimed had been inflicted by her son.

In 2019, the teenager had even burnt down their yard after Liu refused to give him more money.

After sending Xiao Ming for psychiatric evaluation, he was deemed to be suffering from Asperger’s syndrome.