PUTRAJAYA: Sports and co-curricular activities outside classrooms will be allowed in the academic session 2022/2023 which begins on Monday, said Senior Education Minister Datuk Dr Radzi Jidin.

       These activities must be conducted on school grounds, he told a press conference after attending the excellent service awards ceremony of the Education Ministry on Thursday (March 17).

       Radzi said the Ministry would soon announce the standard operating procedure for preventing Covid-19 in connection with this relaxation.

       "This is definitely good news for our children who have been confined to their classrooms until now. We want students and teachers to get used to the transition stage of living with Covid-19 before moving to the endemic phase,” he said.

       On June 10, 2020 the ministry imposed a ban on all sports and co-curricular activities including gatherings in schools following the Covid-19 pandemic.

       Asked on the progress of the locker project in primary schools, Radzi said the ministry was still working out the specifications for the lockers to ensure they are of high quality and durable.

       "The ministry will undertake the installation process once the suitable locations have been identified but there are certain procedures to follow,” he added.

       On March 6, Radzi announced that lockers would be provided in primary schools in phases beginning this year to overcome the problem of heavy school bags for pupils.

       The project will be implemented in two phases, with phase one covering level one pupils in Years One, Two and Three which operate in two sessions and involving 10,662 classes and 323,186 pupils.

       Phase two will involve level two students in Years Four, Five and Six operating in two sessions, with implementation expected in 2023. - Bernama