Students in non-EMCO areas returning home

PETALING JAYA: Higher education institutions outside the enhanced movement control order areas have begun sending students home while institutions located in the enhanced MCO areas are taking care of their students still stuck on campus.

Universiti Sains Malaysia vice-chancellor (Student and Alumni Development) Prof Dr Aldrin Abdullah said they had mobilised 10 of their own buses together with other chartered buses to send their 2, 500 students home from the main campus in Penang.

“There are also stringent standard operating procedures in place to protect our students, including sanitising the buses regularly and enforcing the wearing of masks, ” he said in an interview yesterday.

Students who cannot return home due to their places being under the enhanced MCO will remain on campus, he said, adding that there is ample food available while most recreational facilities are open and mental wellness support is also available.

Universiti Malaya Covid-19 Committee chairman Prof Dr Abdul Aziz Abdul Raman said students on- and off-campus – but not in enhanced MCO areas – were allowed to return home in stages after obtaining approval from the authorities.

UM, located in Lembah Pantai, is not in an enhanced MCO area.

On the official Off-Campus Universiti Malaya Facebook page, the university said students began returning to northern states on Tuesday using their own vehicles or buses arranged by UM.

For Universiti Putra Malaysia, it said it had provided assistance for its students who could not return home due to its locality in Serdang.

Its deputy vice-chancellor (student affairs and alumni) Prof Dr Arifin Abdu said they had a programme called UPM Prihatin (UPM Cares) that provides food baskets for students in need and monitors the cafeterias, convenience stores and kiosks around residential colleges to ensure adequate supply is available at reasonable prices.

He also said the university had already begun preparations to transport their students home.

The preparations include conducting a survey to determine the number of students who wanted to go home and the best drop-off points for them.

He said that so far, about 2, 800 students want to return home.

National Association of Private Educational Institutions president Assoc Prof Elajsolan Mohan said most private higher education students were not affected by the National Security Council’s decision as they had been studying from home.

“Our semester breaks are not so long, compared to the three months for public higher education institutes have.

“As such, even if they have a one-month break, they may not want to return home, taking into consideration the 14-day quarantine required, ” he added.

The Higher Education Ministry (MOHE) said the NSC decided to allow higher education students to return home beginning Monday for their semester break that stretches from July to October 2021.

“MOHE has set several mechanisms to ensure a controlled movement of higher education students in a phased manner, ” it said in a statement on July 9.