Schools are scheduled to reopen in stages, starting Oct 3.
Yet, parents are still sceptical about sending their children to school due to the high number of daily Covid-19 cases recorded nationwide.
Adding to the fear is the fact that teachers had been shying away from getting vaccinated.
This had even caught the attention of members of the royal family and the National Union of the Teaching Profession (NUTP). They urged educators to protect themselves from the coronavirus.
Late last month, the Crown Prince of Johor, Tunku Ismail Ibrahim, revealed that 396 Johor-based teachers had rejected getting their shots due to doubts about the vaccine.
Yesterday, the Sultan of Selangor expressed his disappointment after learning that some 450 national school teachers, and 326 religious teachers, had refused to get vaccinated.
“For this group who has refused to be vaccinated, I am very upset as they will endanger themselves and the public. I worry if there are still kafa (religious) teachers who are unvaccinated. It can cause harm to students,” Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah said in a statement.
NUTP also issued a statement yesterday, urging teachers and students to quickly sign up for the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme.
The union also suggested that teachers and students were to be prioritised for the shots before schools reopened.
“It is hoped that counsellors from the state and district education departments, schools, and the Health Ministry, provide further explanation regarding the benefits of getting vaccinated to teachers and parents of students who are wary of the vaccine,” said NUTP secretary-general Wang Heng Suan.
Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin, on Wednesday, said non-academic staff, including clerks, canteen operators and security personnel stationed in schools would be vaccinated before children headed back to their classrooms.
