Disaster management committee to check Sibu schools for SOP compliance

Dr Annuar shares a slide showing infections in classrooms, which was used during the Zoom meeting.

SIBU (April 29): The Sibu Division Disaster Management Committee (SDDMC) will monitor standard operating procedure (SOP) compliance in schools here.

SDDMC coordinator Dr Annuar Rapaee said the relevant authorities were previously prohibited by the Ministry of Education (MoE) from entering schools for fear of infecting students and teachers.

“On Tuesday, I was given the privilege to join a Zoom meeting with the Education Minister Datuk Mohd Radzi Md Jidin and one of the things I conveyed is for the ministry to allow relevant authorities to monitor SOP compliance at schools.

“That is one way we will be able to find out where the problem is of SOP compliance in schools.

“Monitoring of SOP compliance in schools is compulsory because we do not want sensitive issues that would cause parents to panic when cases are detected and refuse to send their children to schools due to loss of confidence in school authorities,” he said during his Facebook live session last night.

Dr Annuar said data used during the meeting revealed five cases involving Covid-19 infection from teachers to teachers and eight cases involving infection from teachers to students nationwide.

The data also showed zero cases involving infection from students to students and from students to teachers, he said.

“This clearly showed how infections happened in schools.

“Such infections happened at two schools in Sibu. One of the schools was SJK Methodist, where a teacher who had a fever still went to work. She later tested positive for Covid-19,” he said.

He said from April 11-23, a total of 177 positive cases involving teachers and students were detected at 85 schools in Sibu Division, excluding SMK Ulu Balingian.

The cases were detected at 46 primary schools, 23 secondary schools, 11 kindergartens and nurseries, four preschools, and one private school, he said.

Dr Annuar also defended his statement advising students and pupils to report any teachers found violating SOPs, although many were offended by it.

“Up until today, I still receive complaints from parents who were informed by their children of SOP violations in schools. For example, during the Movement Control Order where activities are prohibited in school, it was found out that a teacher organised a class in the school’s lab.

“I have personally seen a teacher not wearing a mask while giving a briefing to students and while teaching in classrooms,” he said.

Dr Annuar added parents also questioned why SOP compliance monitoring was not done in schools.

“This is why I requested from the minister to allow relevant authorities to monitor SOPs in schools.

“We want teachers to continue to be respected and respect cannot be forced. It must be earned. We also cannot let teachers be likened to crabs teaching their young to walk straight,” he said.

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