KUANTAN, May 15 — The Ministry of Education (MOE) is always ready and alert for weather changes, including the south-west monsoon, which is expected to start this month and last until September.

Therefore, Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek said the state education departments and schools have been reminded to comply with the set guidelines.

“At our level, we are always prepared. Thus far, the guidelines must be adhered to, we have given autonomy to the schools to look at the development of the weather in their respective states, including in terms of clothing.

“Our activity guidelines are quite clear, and we ask that they continue to be followed and monitored by the state education departments,” she said when asked about the ministry’s preparations in the face of the south-west monsoon.

She said this at a press conference after attending the awards ceremony in conjunction with the national-level of the 2024 Teacher’s Day celebration today, which saw more than 100 educators receive their respective awards.

Fadhlina said the ministry will improve the guidelines from time to time, in cooperation with the Ministry of Health and other relevant ministries.

Yesterday, the media reported that the country is expected to face various negative impacts, including health, water supply, forest or bushfires, haze and agricultural products, following the south-west monsoon.

Meanwhile, touching on digital education, Fadhlina said that all infrastructure is being improved together with the Digital Ministry and the Communications Ministry.

As of May 1, a total of 352,265 teachers have been screened to assess the level of digital competence, and of that number, 82,495 are at the basic level, with 263,659 at intermediate level and 6,111 at advanced level.

Hence, she said that continuous training would be implemented to improve the teachers’ digital competency.

Commenting on the construction of the new building of Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan Tamil Ladang Jeram, which has been ongoing for so long, she said that MOE is highly committed to solving the issue.

“This issue involves land ownership and other agencies, and MOE and the state education department are working together with the LPS (School Management Board) to resolve this issue, so that it does not arise again, and this school can operate comfortably without being bogged down by this issue in the future,” she said.

The issue involving the school, which is also known as “container school”, was raised by Sabai assemblyman, V. Arumugam, at the recent state assembly sitting, requesting prompt action from relevant parties to resolve the problem. — Bernama