COMMENT | No, don't impose blanket shutdown on schools nationwide

COMMENT | I had buka puasa a few days ago with a family friend. He has three children and I have three children. All school-going except for our youngest ones. His eldest daughter just entered Form One and, as we all already know, those who are in Form One this year did not take the UPSR (it has since been abolished).

“The other day, Martha had to take an exam when she entered Form One,” he said.

“A test? I thought the UPSR is no more?” I asked.

“It’s an internal exam by the school just to see the proficiency of the students.”

“Ahh! I see. How did she do?”

“Her maths result was horrible! She didn’t fail but she didn’t do very well.”

That’s why I feel that it is most important that we try as hard as possible to keep the schools open during the Covid-19 pandemic and we should not go back to shutting down everything. Our children have lost a year of their educational life due to...