Senior minister for education Radzi Jidin had previously said that such teachers would not be allowed to conduct classes. They would still have to come to school, where they would be placed separately and given non-teaching assignments.

“However, we have found that in certain schools, some of the teachers who refuse to be vaccinated are still teaching the same subjects as before. The students cannot go on learning like this,” he said after visiting the Langkawi Vocational College here today.

“Transfers, including interstate transfers, might be carried out to resolve this problem,” he said.

Radzi added that in the early stages, teachers who refused to be vaccinated had been advised and given sufficient time to get their jabs.

“From the 2,500 teachers who refused to be vaccinated, there are only about 2,000 of them now. This may look like a small number but we cannot let this go on and (will) take immediate action,” he said.

He said his ministry was waiting for the Public Service Department to decide on the appropriate form of action to be taken against the teachers.

On the vaccination programme for teenagers, he said it appeared to be running smoothly and in an orderly manner. “So far, we’ve seen good response. Parents are determined for their children to get vaccinated,” he said.