Mixed feelings amongst students as schools reopen

KUCHING (Jan 11): The new school term in Sarawak commenced yesterday, with students heading to their classrooms with uncertainties after having their past session interrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Not only must they observe all the standard operating procedures (SOP) set by the authorities, but they must also resume the syllabus carried forward from last year and get through all of it by this March.

Students queue to have their temperatures checked before proceeding to their respective classrooms. — Photo by Roystein Emmor

“It’s awkward to follow the current academic calendar because we’re still going through Form 4 syllabus up until March, when we’re supposed to be in Form 5 this year,” said a student of one of the secondary schools in the city, who wished to be identified only as Emma.

Her schoolmate, Adira, said she was starting the year with some trepidation as she not only had to get used to the new norms, but she would also be sitting for the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) examination soon.

“I am going to sit for SPM this March and honestly, I think learning in school is more helpful and exciting than studying at home,” she said, recalling that she last attended a physical class in October last year.

The authorities of the school had requested for the name of the school and its students be withheld.

The Borneo Post observed two schools at Jalan Macdougall here yesterday morning to observe the return of students for physical classes this year.

A downpour had hit the city, but schools remained vigilant in ensuring that the set SOP would be strictly adhered to.

An officer from Kuching District police headquarters hands a flyer on Covid-19 SOP to a parent at the school’s front gate. — Photo by Roystein Emmor

At Emma’s school, the teachers were assisted by the prefects to ensure that the students were mindful of the SOP as they arrived at the gates – everyone had their uniforms and body temperatures checked before they could enter school compound.

At the all-boy school across the street, two police personnel and a teacher could be seen handing out flyers on the school’s SOPs to the parents as they arrived with their children.

from Borneo Post Online https://bit.ly/3HVkbbB
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