Selangor Journal
A student passes by the Universiti Malaya logo in Petaling Jaya, on March 17, 2020. — Picture by BERNAMA

Students of higher learning institutions can return home beginning April 27

PUTRAJAYA, April 24 — Students of all institutions of higher learning including polytechnics and community colleges who are still staying on campus will be allowed to return to their homes beginning April 27, said Senior Minister (security cluster) Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.

He said the Special Meeting of Ministers on Implementation of the movement control order (MCO) today decided that their travel times would be fixed between 9 pm and 9 am to ensure orderly journeys.

“Travelling will be conducted in stages to green zones only. The students involved will be screened for symptoms before being allowed to board the buses, and they will be given food and face masks,” he told a press conference here today.

Ismail Sabri, who is also Defence Minister, said 53,000 people or 85 per cent of the student population of tertiary institutions under the Higher Education Ministry would be involved in the returning home initiative while the rest had opted to stay put in their campuses.

“Some might have opted to stay put because they will be sitting for examinations or are following classes online on the campus because of limited internet access in their kampung,” he said, adding that the government would continue to supply food and beverage to them.

Ismail Sabri said according to the standard operating procedure (SOP) set by the Higher Education Ministry, buses would fetch the students from their campus or place of residence outside and send them directly to the police station or district office in their hometowns.

“They will then be sent to their houses by government agencies at the district level. This means there is no way they can go to other places,” he added.

Apart from this, the seating capacity of the buses would be reduced by half to ensure social distancing rules are observed, he said.

Ismail Sabri said that for Sabah and Sarawak students, the government would organise flights to send them to the airport nearest to their hometowns.

“As decided by the Sarawak and Sabah governments, all passengers including from Peninsular Malaysia will be quarantined for 14 days. This includes returning students, unless their governments change the SOP,” he said.

Asked about students wishing to return to red zones, Ismail Sabri said this would not be allowed for now.

“The same goes for students renting houses in red zones outside the campus; they are also not allowed to return home to green zones in the initial stage,” he said.

He said the process of sending back students of tertiary institutions under the supervision of other ministries like education and rural development would still have to follow the SOP of the Higher Education Ministry.

— Bernama

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