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Excitement and joy as students return to school

Many parents are also glad that their children are able to attend face-to-face classes again.

Bernama
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Children check their temperatures on the first day of school at SK Patau-Patau in Labuan. Photo: Bernama
Children check their temperatures on the first day of school at SK Patau-Patau in Labuan. Photo: Bernama

The third term of the 2021/2022 school session for the 12 states in Group B kicked off today with students generally excited to attend face-to-face classes for the first time in months.

Parents said unlike online classes, face-to-face schooling allowed students to interact with their friends and teachers and offered a more conducive environment for learning and the development of students.

The schools in Group B are from all three federal territories, Melaka, Negeri Sembilan, Pahang, Perak, Perlis, Penang, Sabah, Sarawak and Selangor.

A Bernama check at SMK Maxwell in Kuala Lumpur found that many parents were thankful for seeing their children attend school in person after going through a tough period of studying from home online due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Mathibathanan Ramakrishnan, 57, said it was far more beneficial for students to attend classes in person, especially in terms of their mental health.

“In school, my son can socialise with his friends and teachers. The learning process is also more efficient because it’s easier to ask questions. To me, online classes still have many problems,” he said.

In Selangor, Education Minister Radzi Jidin spent more than an hour inspecting operations at SK Meru in Kapar, Klang.

Zainal Sadari, 38, said his twin daughters, Ariana Nur Iman Tihani and Althia Nur Iman Tihani, were very excited to attend pre-school at SK Meru this morning as they had not met their friends for a long time.

In Perak, parents were seen sending their children to SK Seri Ampang in Ipoh using the drive-through concept introduced by the school as part of the SOPs to curb the spread of Covid-19.

Most of the students from Standard One, Two and Six arrived as early as 6.50am, where they underwent temperature checks and were given hand sanitiser before entering their classrooms.

In Perlis, students were also in high spirits about clocking in for the new term.

A Standard Five student at SRJK Tamil Kangar, K Jeyshrini, said she was glad to be able to return to school for in-person classes and to meet with her friends.

Noor Damia Mahamad Noor, a Standard One pupil at SK Putra, Kangar, meanwhile said she did not sleep well last night because she couldn’t wait to come to school this morning.

In Melaka, state education and technology committee chairman Rais Yasin said 85,136 pupils from primary schools and 65,219 students from secondary schools began the new term today.

He said there were 71 students from primary and secondary schools still taking shelter at three flood relief centres (PPS) in Jasin.

“No teachers were affected by the floods and all of them reported for duty this morning. Students with damaged textbooks and equipment should contact the school authorities for help,” he told reporters after presenting face masks to students and teachers at SK Tanjung Minyak.

In Negeri Sembilan, a student of SMK Tuanku Abdul Rahman in Gemas, Puteri Nur Hidayatul Akma Mohd Khairi, 16, said she was eager to go back to school although she was not dressed in her school uniform.

Instead, she wore a long-sleeved T-shirt, sports pants and slippers because her uniform and other school equipment had been damaged in the floods which hit Taman Sungai Gemas.

“This is the first time I’m attending school in home clothing because my uniform and other school things were damaged and washed away by floodwater. But this did not dampen my spirits to attend school,” she added.