CORONAVIRUS | A special cabinet meeting today will decide whether tertiary students are allowed to return home, following the extension of the movement control order (MCO) until April 28.
According to Higher Education Minister Noraini Ahmad (photo), the matter was discussed at the ministry level and will be brought to the cabinet meeting.
"I want students to not only return home but to do so while healthy and safe," she said on the Facebook page yesterday.
When the MCO was imposed mid-March, thousands of students were ordered to remain at their respective residences and were provided food by their respective campuses.
However, with uncertainty over how long the MCO would last, there have been increasing calls for them to return home.
A proponent of this move was Umno Youth exco member Wan Muhammad Azri Wan Deris, who urged the National Security Council to devise a method for students to return home safely.
"I understand that this proposal poses a risk to our efforts to stem the spread of Covid-19.
"However, we must be sensitive to the needs of the students who are trapped in their hostels which could affect them emotionally and pose greater risks," he said in a statement.
Similarly, the National Student Consultative Council (MPPK) urged the government to allow students to return home in stages.
MPPK also proposed that the government charter flights for students who need to return to East Malaysia from Peninsular Malaysia and vice-versa.
Just before the announcement of the MCO extension, Senior Minister (security cluster) Ismail Sabri Yaakob said students were to remain in their accommodations.
"We will stick with the existing standard operating procedure where students at colleges and universities... will need to remain on campus and in their living quarters.
"Food will be provided as usual," he said, when asked if parents would be able to receive their children should the MCO continue after April 14. - Mkini
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