IPOH: With schools reopening today for some primary school pupils, parents have been busy with their last-minute preparations.

       Administration assistant Sharon Kaur, 43, said her son in Year Six would have to attend physical classes today, but his uniform, especially his long pants, had become shorter since he last wore it about two years ago.

       “Since he is a school prefect, his uniform is different from the rest and needs to be tailored at a specific shop.

       “However, when I visited the tailor last week, he told me that the uniform would only be ready after two weeks.

       “So, I have no choice but to carry out alterations myself to make the pants longer, and also loosen it at the waist,” she said.

       However, Sharon said for her other son who is in Form Five this year, she has time to sort out his uniform as he would be back to school only next month.

       “I really feel it is a waste to purchase uniforms again, as the ones they have are really new.

       “Because they did not go to school for two years, the uniforms have become shorter and tighter,” said Sharon, adding that her son was not too excited to go back to school as he was used to staying at home.

       “He keeps telling me that he will go to school on alternate days only, but I told him that it is no longer a choice now,” she added.

       Grace Chong, 45, who runs a bakery, said as her son would be going to Form Four, she had been going to her regular shops selling uniforms but could not find one which fit her son’s size.

       “Over the next few days, I will go to more shops to get his uniform before he attends physical classes,” she added.

       Chong said that since her son had been attending school on a rotation basis, he was mentally prepared to go back to school full time.

       Teacher Kiranjit Kaur, 43, said the last two years had been tough on everyone.

       She said there were a lot of challenges that teachers had to endure, especially during online classes where students went missing due to a lack of Internet availability, while some took advantage of not joining for unacceptable reasons.

       She said even during face-to-face classes, they had challenges where some students or teachers tested positive for Covid-19, and due to this, attendance was affected.

       “Hopefully, this year everything will be better and teaching and learning can go on smoothly,” she added.

       She said as a mother of four, she was worried about her children going back to school.

       “I have my twins going to kindergarten. Kids are more prone to get Covid-19, while my two daughters will go to Year Five and Form Three.

       “But by stopping the kids from going to school, we will make it even harder for them to cope with the syllabus,” she said.

       “Hence, as parents, we just need to adapt in this new normal.”