KUCHING: Teachers who refuse to get vaccinated against Covid-19 are likely to face action after Nov 1, says Education Minister Datuk Dr Radzi Jidin.

       He said this was in line with the Public Service Department’s (JPA) directive making it mandatory for all civil servants to be vaccinated by Nov 1.

       “Since the JPA announcement, some teachers have gone for their first dose, so we are monitoring the situation.

       “If unvaccinated teachers affect school operations, immediate action will be taken, including transferring them,” he said after visiting SMK Bandar Samariang here yesterday.

       Radzi said the ministry’s basic principle was that unvaccinated teachers could not teach face-to-face but must be present in school for other duties.

       At the same time, he said it was important to ensure school operations were not affected if there were teachers who refused to be vaccinated.

       “In special education schools, for example, if one of the teachers is not vaccinated, it will affect other teachers because special needs children are usually closely accompanied by teachers.

       “This is something we are looking at in detail, similarly with preschool teachers who don’t want to be vaccinated,” he said.

       On teen vaccination, Radzi said over 80% have received the first dose while some states had reached a 90% rate.

       He also said the majority of Form Five and Form Six students had been fully vaccinated.

       “We are in the final stages of studying the data to decide on allowing Form Five and Form Six students to return to school without rotation,” he said, adding that the decision would be announced soon.