21,400 signed online petition urging MOE to postpone school reopening so far

11 Aug 2021

By Ilona Andrew

KUALA LUMPUR: An online petition urging the Ministry of Education (MOE) to postpone the school reopening scheduled for Sept 1 has been launched since Sunday.

The petition launched on change.org is targeting 100,000 signatures and has garnered some 21,400 signatures as of 4pm today.

The increase in Covid-19 cases at this time has raised concerns among parents about the risk of transmission in school should it be opened as scheduled.

One of the signatories to the petition mentioned that the safety of children is of the utmost crucial at times like this.

"Like many of the silly and downright stupid decisions by this backdoor regime, this is equally stupid, and clearly, not thought through.

"Blood is already on the hands of these callous morons. Let's not allow them to spill more blood, especially those of our teachers and students," Zaharom Nain, one of the signatories, was quoted as saying.

Another signatory, Chong Choo Saw, mentioned that the decision to reopen school sessions is irresponsible considering that Covid-19 infection and death rates are at a record high.

"Is the government going to be held responsible if children die?" he questioned.

Meanwhile. Ravichandran Naidu said: "The situation is (far) from safe for our children to be in the schools. We are still far from achieving herd immunity; the government should rethink this decision."

On July 17, the MOE announced that schools will be reopened in stages for face-to-face classes from September 1.

Its minister Datuk Radzi Jidin said this applies to all government schools, government-aided schools, private schools and educational institutions registered under MOE.