BATU PAHAT, March 26 — The face-to-face school sessions for the secondary level scheduled to begin on April 4 and 5 will continue although there are 41 Covid-19 clusters originating from educational institutions since Jan 1, said Senior Education Minister Datuk Dr Radzi Jidin.

He said school sessions would continue in accordance with the standard operating procedures (SOP) set.

The ministry would also continue the monitoring so that students could follow the learning sessions safely, he said.

"If we look at the data, the clusters came from various educational institutions. More than five million students nationwide, including secondary school students, will return to school on April 4 and 5.

"We have prepared the best SOP, so, we hope all parties including parents and schools will give their support, comply with (the SOP) so that the school sessions can continue in a safe manner," he told  reporters after handing over maintenance allocations for schools in the Batu Pahat parliamentary constituency here today.

Schools had been reopening in stages starting with pre-schoolers and Standards One and Two on March 1 nationwide, followed by Standards Three, Four, Five and Six  on March 8.

Secondary schools will commence sessions on April 4 for those in Johor, Kedah, Kelantan and Terengganu, and on March 5 for the other states.      

Yesterday, Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said there have been 41 Covid-19 clusters originating from schools and universities since Jan 1, resulting in 2,268 positive cases so far.

Of the total, he said 15 clusters involved institutes of higher learning, secondary schools (11 clusters), pre-schools and primary schools (10) as well as tahfiz centres and madrasah (five). — Bernama