Spike in education clusters: Gov't to wait for MOE's report first - PM Ismail Sabri

KOTA BHARU, Jan 22 -- Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said any decision on the school session would be made after a report on the increase in education clusters was obtained by the pro tem committee.

He said the Ministry of Education (MOE) had been asked to submit a report on the sharp increase in education clusters to the pro tem committee chaired by Senior Defence Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein.

“If we are to close the schools, parents will be worried about the future of their children because online learning is not fully accessed by everyone.

“Several changes have been made by the MOE and the issue here is the sharp increase in cases. I have asked the MOE to submit the report to the pro tem committee. In terms of the decision, we will wait for the pro tem committee to discuss the report,” he said.

He said this at a press conference after attending a special meeting with members of the state UMNO Political Bureau at the Kelantan UMNO Building, here today.

For the record, about 70 per cent or 62 out of the 89 new clusters reported by the Ministry of Health (MOH) for the period of Jan 15 to yesterday (Jan 21), involved educational institutions.

The highest number of education clusters was reported on Jan 19 with 16 out of 20 new clusters detected involving educational institutions.

Yesterday (Jan 21), 11 out of the 12 clusters reported by the MOH were education clusters, namely two each in Kelantan, Selangor, Negeri Sembilan, Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur and Pahang, while one was recorded in Johor.

A total of 11 education clusters were also reported on Jan 18 and another 11 were recorded on Jan 20.

-- BERNAMA