KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 25 — Parents who travel across districts and states to send their children to school no longer need police permission to do so, said Senior Minister (Defence) Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.

Instead, parents need only show a letter from the school that their children attend at police roadblocks and they will be able to proceed to their intended destination, said Ismail Sabri.

"Parents no longer need police permission to travel across districts or states to send their children to school. They just need to present a letter from the school at police roadblocks,’’ he said during his press briefing today.

Ismail Sabri said this is to help parents as they prepare for the start of the new school term, which is due March 1 for primary schools and April 1 for secondary schools.

He also assured parents that the government has duly informed the inspector-general of police of this decision and it will be relayed to officers on the ground nationwide.

"So I expect there won’t be any problems at roadblocks when parents want to send their children to school,’’ he said.

On February 19, Education Minister Datuk Mohd Radzi Md Jidin announced that pre-school, Standard 1 and Standard 2 classes will start on March 1, while Standards 3 to 6 sessions will commence on March 8.

For secondary students, those in the Group A states of Johor, Kedah, Kelantan and Terengganu will start school on April 4, while secondary students in Group B states will attend school from April 5, which is after the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) 2020 examination.

The decision to allow primary pupils to start school earlier was to allow both them and their teachers the chance to adapt to the new normal as well as Covid-19 standard operating procedures, said Radzi.