Group B Schools are schools in Melaka, Negeri Sembilan, Pahang, Perak, Perlis, Sabah, Sarawak, Selangor, Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan Labuan and Wilayah Persekutuan Putrajaya.
The Ministry of Education recently uploaded the revised school days and holiday calendar for 2020 on its website.
Here are some of the main dates to pay attention to.
20 - 24 August 2020 = Revised Mid Term Holidays for 2020 (Awal Muharram is on Thur 20 August 2020)
13 &16 Nov 2020 = Deepavali School Holidays. (Deepavali is on Saturday, 14 Nov 2020, therefore total days off is 4 days from 13 Nov to 16 Nov 2020)
Today 1st July 2020, The Menteri Kanan Pendidikan Dr. Radzi Jidin addressed the nation in a live telecast. Below is a brief summary of the press conference.
Back to School Under the New Normal
Students are to return to school under the following schedule.
15th July 2020
Standard 5 & 6
Form 1 - Form 4
22nd July 2020
Standard 1 - Standard 4
Schools will apply the following models for back to school depending on the school's capacity.
Model 1 = All students return to school at the same time (for small schools with enough capacity to practice social distancing)
Model 2 = Observe dual or two sessions (for schools which are unable to accommodate all students)
Model 3 = Rotation system (for large schools which cannot apply Models 1 or 2) *
* Schools doing the rotation system will have a hybrid system of lessons in classrooms + online learning.
MOE (Ministry of Education) will list down the school and the type of models to be applied by the school one week before school reopens.
Tuition centres registered with KPM may start operating with effect from 15th July 2020.
SOP during Recess
School recess and canteen must have the following SOP in place.
1. Social Distancing must be followed
2. Food must be packed
Students are encouraged to bring food from home. Schools may have staggered recess. In some schools, students can buy packed food from canteen and return to their classrooms to have their meal. In others, pre-ordered food will be sent to the classroom. Either method is fine as long as the two SOP listed above are followed ie social distancing and packing of food is observed.
What about the school holidays?
Recently the MOE amended the school calendar. Below is the new amended school calendar for 2020. The mid term school holidays is expected to be from 20th August to 24th August 2020.
Is It Safe To Return To School? Let's have a look at the Covid 19 statistics in Malaysia for 1st July 2020.
Recovered = 21 cases New Positive Cases = 1 (1 imported case and 0 local transmission case) No of deaths = 0 No of cases in ICU = 4 No of cases requiring ventilator = 2
While the numbers look promising, we must not let down our guard. We need to continue to be vigilant to fight against Covid 19 so long as a vaccine has not yet been found and world infection numbers are still rising.
Today Education Minister Dr Mohd Radzi Md Jidin announced the cancellation of UPSR, PT3 and postponement of SPM 2020 to early 2021. Here's what parents need to know for now.
1. School sessions will be postponed until we are more certain of a recovery situation
2. School reopening will be announced 2 weeks beforehand.
3. For now, school reopening will only involve examination classes SPM, SVM, STPM, STAM and other equivalent overseas exams.
4. Teachers, parents and students are to follow SOPs on safety, cleanliness and social distancing when school reopens
5. SPM, SVM and STAM will be postponed to the first quarter of 2021
6. STPM Semester 2 will be rescheduled to August 2020 whereas Semester 3 will be held on the first quarter of 2021.
7. New intakes for institutes of higher education including Asasi, Matrikulasi and diploma programmes will be postponed to July or August 2021. Degree programmes will be postponed to September or October 2021.
Update: In a Press Release dated 16 April 2020, the ministry further explained that the postponement of intakes are for those taking SPM 2020 whereas intake dates for those who took SPM in 2019 will proceed as planed. (Refer to press release at the end of this page)
8. UPSR and PT3 2020 will be cancelled.
9. Progression to Secondary School: With the cancellation of UPSR, the MOE will introduce a new method of assessment (which is not solely focused on academic performance alone) for admission to full boarding schools (SBP), Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Agama (SMKA), Mara Junior Science College (MRSM) and Royal Military College (RMC),
10. Progression to Upper Secondary: With the cancellation of PT3, a new method will be introduced to assess students for upper secondary school. Results from this assessment will be used as one of the criteria for admission to specific schools such as full-boarding or technical schools.
We did a quick poll on this and at this time of writing, 345 parents voted in agreement of this move with 30 dissenting.
For full details, please refer to the press statement from the Ministry of Education, Malaysia below or visit the official site:
The Movement Order Control in Malaysia has just been extended another 2 weeks to 28 April 2020. That means children will be home for another 2 weeks. They will be restless and some of them may be confused. It is not easy to explain something that you cannot see with the eye to children. What is COVID-19? Why do we have to #stayathome ? Why can't we go to see grandpa/grandma?
Children can feel anxious especially if they overhear their parents talk about the daily statistics on the number of cases as well as the demise of more people due to it.
The World Health Organization in collaboration with more than 50 organizations including the United Nations Children’s Fund, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and Save the Children and more has come up with a book to explain COVID-19 to children.
This book has been translated into many languages including English, Chinese and Bahasa Malaysia, to reach as many children as possible including
Entitled "My Hero Is You", the book talks about hand washing, staying at home, social distancing etc in simple terms to help children understand the current situation with the help of a fantasy creature called Ario.
This book is suitable for kids from age 6-11 years old.
It is written and illustrated by Helen Patuck, who together with her project team drew on the sharing from 1700 children, parents, caregivers and teachers from all over the world to make sure that the story and its messages are relevant to children from different backgrounds.
Interestingly, the Bahasa Malaysia translation is translated by Dr Feisul Idzwan Mustapha from our own Kementerian Kesihatan Malaysia or Ministry of Health Malaysia. :-)
Below is the audio version, a public reading by Howard Donald. You can put this on together with your book for kids to listen and read at the same time. Howard Donald is an English singer, songwriter, drummer, pianist, dancer and record producer. He is a member of English pop-group Take That and a judge on the German reality talent show Got to Dance.
How do I encourage my child to pick up a book to read and continue reading? This is one of the most frequently asked questions by parents. When you give a child a book, it is a gift. When you teach a child to love reading that book, you give the child a gift for life.
Here are 8 Ways to Encourage Children To Read
1. Use Graded Readers
These are readers that progress in levels. New words and complexity of grammar structures increases as children. move from one level to another. Graded readers features a systematic ‘levelled reading’ approach with incremental vocabulary coverage, careful language recycling and increasing text complexity. Children become more confident as they recognize books found in the earlier series. The confidence that comes from being able to read independently encourages them to keep on reading and discover new words. Children should be encouraged to read books that are within their level of reading comprehension. Too low a level makes them bored while too high a level makes them frustrated and give up. Select books with tiers, levels or bands because these graded readers are written according to children's age and reading level in mind. 2. Read Stories that Children can Relate to
Children are like sponges, absorbing all information around them. They are curious beings. Stories that they can relate to will capture their attention and interest and make them want to continue reading. While there are a wide array of stories from the west, stories rich in Asian culture are also a good way to teach children about the different local cultures because it stirs their natural curiosity.
3. Design Matters - Read Books with Interesting Illustration
Books with colourful illustration and design attract young readers to pick up a book to read. They say pictures speak a thousand words. Words along with pictures tell a compelling story that makes you want to continue reading.
4. Read Different Genre Storybooks
We can broaden the horizon of the young reader and encourage them to read by introducing to them interesting stories across different genres including real-life fiction, adventure stories, traditional tales and non-fiction. Children will learn that reading can take them into a different world, time or place when they imagine the stories that they read taking place.
5. Let Your Child Choose What They Want To Read
While it may be tempting to select all your child’s reading material based on what you think is good for them, it is good to let them choose what they want to read occasionally. Perhaps they may need you to guide them along, allowing them to choose what they want to read will motivate them to pick up that book to read at home. You never know, they might find gems you didn’t plan to pick up. Set up a cozy reading book or mini home library for them to read books they had a hand in picking.
6. Read Books That Encourage Children to Think
Some books have guided questions at the end of the book or supplementary projects and activities. All of these help to facilitate value reflection and critical thinking development in readers. Parents can ask children questions or do projects together with children which encourages parent child bonding and further interest in the books read. 7. Read Stories with Themes
Popular thematic stories about festivals, families, food, animals, transportation etc educate as well as inform. For example, kids may be interested to read about the New Year as the New Year approaches making it something to look forward to and talk about.
8. Read Together and Read Often
Read to your child, or together with your child to encourage them to read. Bring them to bookshops, libraries and book exhibitions to open up the world of books and reading to them. Read often and discuss what you read with your child. Don't look at your mobile while your child is reading. Pick up something and read as they are reading. This will encourage them to read instead of playing with their phones too.
Dragonfly Readers is a new print series by Oxford Fajar. It is designed for the 21st century reader to support the development of reading comprehension skills, featuring:
204 beautifully-illustrated stores and non-fiction texts by Asian authors and artists
Asian culture, themes and values infused in the series
Culture and vocabulary pages, supplementary projects and activities
Clear learner progression, based on Oxford Levels and aligned to CEFR
The Dragonfly Readers is based on a levelling* system with
9 tiered-levelling, each level denoted by a number and colour
6 bands per level; each band offers 3-4 theme-linked reading texts within a printed anthology
Each reading text introduces a set of topic-related new words with practice and support materials
A transparent vocabulary structure, with each reading text presenting new topic-related words and carefully recycling previously learnt new words
Text complexity gradually increases through the bands, so learners incrementally gain comprehension skills and reading fluency as they advance through the levels
The Dragonfly Readers is available for purchase online here.
*Dragonfly readers is currently available up to Level 3. Stay tuned for the higher levels coming soon.
Oxford Big Read
The Oxford Big Read is an English reading programme and competition for primary school students in Malaysia. Students who participate in the competition will be required to read Oxford Readers and do different age-wise activities based on their levels.
The competition is open to all schools in Malaysia, and features attractive prizes for students and their schools.
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