KUCHING: The Sarawak Teachers Union (STU) welcomes the Ministry of Education’s announcement on the extension of the home-based teaching and learning (PdPR) until July 17.
STU president Adam Parkash Abdullah, however, hoped that the ministry could come up with a more strategic plan for the PdPR.
“This is to ensure effective implementation of teaching and learning. It should not be based on the trend of the spread of Covid-19.
“The PdPR could possibly be a part of future schooling norm for at least the next few years. More thinking should be put into this so that it is no longer an impromptu arrangement but a well-planned and structured process,” he said on Sunday (June 6).
He said with that, teachers and students would then see PdPR as part of the school routine and would be able to adapt to the situation, make proper arrangements for teaching and learning and foresee challenges ahead to ensure all students get access to learning.
On the postponement of this year’s Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) examination to next year, Adam said that it was very unfortunate for the students who were supposed to sit for the exams this year.
“However, having the 2021 SPM for next year is quite fair as this will allow the teachers and students to prepare for the exam.
“It is not easy to prepare our students under these circumstances and STU hopes the examination syndicate of the Ministry of Education will have a fair assessment rubric for the underprivileged students,” he said.
Adam added it was worrying to see the emergence of new Covid-19 clusters even though the state was under the movement control order (MCO).
“STU is again requesting the kind assistance of Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) chairman Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas to list teachers in the priority list for the vaccines,” he said.
Adam added now was a good time to call teachers out for the vaccination as they could go to the vaccination centres without disrupting their class schedules.
“We hope the government supports our call for the best interest of the children and teachers in schools,” he said.
