PETALING JAYA: Only 65% of pupils at a school in Puchong, Selangor, showed up for the first day of school yesterday and many had no uniforms.

       Kafa Integrasi Al-Aman school teacher Nur Hasyimah Che Ariffin noted most were affected by the Dec 18 floods.

       “They came wearing normal clothes and without books. Following that we have submitted the names of these students to the management for them to get new textbooks,” she said.

       The school was used as a temporary shelter for flood victims, including its students, for two days.

       Meanwhile, Nur Hasyimah said the school continued to observe existing guidelines by the Health Ministry and Education Ministry, especially in light of the Omicron Covid-19 variant.

       “The school canteen is still closed to avoid crowds while the teachers will take orders from the pupils which they will then serve in the classroom,” she said.

       On Sunday, Deputy Education Minister Datuk Mohamad Alamin said that more than 14,000 students affected by the floods were allowed to wear normal clothes to school.

       He said the Education Ministry also guaranteed sufficient supply of textbooks to replace more than 260,000 flood-damaged textbooks.

       Parent Action Group for Education Malaysia (PAGE) chairperson Datin Noor Azimah Abdul Rahim said it was timely to make changes to the school dress code.

       “The reason being is to reduce cost for the parents while it will provide more comfort to the students,” she said.

       “To address the dependence on physical books that bear the risks of damage during natural disasters, it is also important to introduce hybrid learning methods.

       “The parents and students in the east coast are prepared for the annual floods and precautions have been taken.

       “However, those living in the west coast and Sabah and Sarawak who were never inundated before by floods lost everything but the clothes on their back,” she said.