KUALA LANGAT: It’s back to school for most youngsters nationwide starting Monday (March 21).

       Excitement filled the air at SJKC Bukit Fraser, Bandar Saujana Putra, as pupils returned to schools face-to-face for the 2022/2023 academic year.

       For some, it was seeing old friends again and it was back to following the standard operating procedures (SOPs) practised in schools, such as maintaining a physical distance from each other.

       But these practices are all new for Year One pupils, who for the first time in the country’s history, start their schooling in March instead of January.

       The teachers of SJKC Bukit Fraser watched the newbies like a hawk, ensuring they followed the strictly practised SOPs correctly.

       The pupils arrived as early as 6:45am.

       Teachers greeted them with hand sanitisers and ushered them into the waiting area before entering their classrooms.

       There were no back to school blues for these pupils as they cheerily waved goodbye to their parents.

       Education Minister Datuk Dr Radzi Jidin said approximately three million primary school pupils nationwide are expected to attend face-to-face learning for the new school session.

       In a Facebook post Monday, he said he is in Perak to monitor school operations for the first day of admission in a few schools in the state.

       “Let’s pray for a smooth, orderly and safe operation of the first term of the 2022/2023 academic year,” he added.

       Not everyone, however, is back to school at the same time.

       Earlier this month, on March 5, Radzi said Years Three, Four and Five pupils in schools with an enrolment of over 600 pupils could attend classes on a rotational basis.

       However, pupils with special needs in Sekolah Kebangsaan Pendidikan Khas and Integrated Special Education Programmes, Years One, Two and Six pupils and Supplementary Food Programme recipients, he added, would have to attend physical school sessions without rotation.

       For primary schools with less than 600 pupils, Radzi said the ministry had stipulated that all public and private primary school pupils, including expatriate schools and international schools with an overall enrolment of fewer than 600 pupils were required to attend face-to-face classes without rotation.

       Secondary schools, on the other hand, will see all students undergo home-based teaching and learning (PdPR) for two weeks starting March 21.

       Radzi said they will attend face-to-face classes without rotation starting April 4.

       As the new school year begins, sports and co-curricular activities outside classrooms will also be allowed again after the ministry imposed a ban on all sports and co-curricular activities, including gatherings in schools, on June 10, 2020, following the Covid-19 pandemic.

       These activities, Radzi said on March 17, must be conducted on school grounds and that the ministry will soon announce the SOPs for preventing Covid-19 in connection with the relaxation.