Will teachers with comorbidities in GENIUS Institutions, People Religious Schools, State Religious Schools, MARA Junior Colleges, Royal Military Colleges, Private Schools, Private Religious Schools, Chinese Independent Schools etc be included in the first phase of immunisation programme?

1.     Thank you for listening to our call to include teachers in the first phase of the immunisation programme. I fully understand why teachers in the high-risk category and have co-morbidities should be prioritised, I nonetheless hope that the rest of teachers will also be prioritized, once frontline health personnel and high-risk populations are vaccinated. This is a critical step towards creating an environment that is safe for children and provides stability in the education ecosystem.

2.     Primary schools will open in March. And the vaccine will take 3 to 5 days after the first dose to be effective. It is important to note that there are 55,539 teachers currently serving in a government school who belong to the high-risk category and have co-morbidities.

3.     Other than teachers in Government schools under Ministry of Education, will teachers in the high-risk category and have co-morbidities in institutions managed by other Government agencies (such as GENIUS Institution, People Religious Schools, State Religious Schools, MARA Junior Colleges, Royal Military Colleges) and those in private (such as Private Schools, International Schools, Religious Schools, Chinese Independent Schools, Correspondence School, Expatriate Schools) be included in the first phase of immunisation programme?

As at January 2020, there were 415,840 teachers in Government Primary Schools and Government Secondary Schools. At the same time, there were 17,857 teachers in the private sector and 13,040 in other institutions managed by Government Agencies.

While I am happy for the teachers in Government Schools getting priority, those in GENIUS institutions, other government agencies and private sectors should not be neglected as they and their students could be exposed to the same level of risks.

Teo Nie Ching,

MP for Kulai