No compulsory face mask for students yet due to cost factor, says minister

The government has yet to make it mandatory for school students to wear face masks during classes due to the financial burden on those who cannot afford them, says Defence Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob.

This was also because schools had been directed to strictly observe healthcare guidelines to prevent the spread of Covid-19 pandemic, he added.

"The use of face masks for school students has not been made compulsory yet because social distancing is strictly practised in schools under strict standard operating procedures. Nonetheless, they are encouraged to wear it.

"It's not that the use of face masks will not be made compulsory. The Health Ministry is researching on reusable masks that are suitable for students' use.

"The reason why the government has not made it compulsory for students is because the cost of each (single use) face mask that is more than RM1 per day would burden those from poor families," he told Malaysiakini in a text message today.

Ismail, who is the senior minister in charge of security, was responding to a request for his comments on the issue of face mask use by school students after the government made it mandatory for the public beginning this month.

Education Minister Radzi Jidin had on Tuesday told the Dewan Rakyat that the ministry had yet to make face masks mandatory for school students and was discussing the viability of reusable masks.

Ismail said the government was aware of the plight of the people, especially those in the B40 group who might not be able to sustain the expenditure needed to purchase single-use face masks for daily use.

The minister gave the example of a teacher in Sandakan, Sabah who discovered that one of his special needs students was wearing a dirty face mask to school as his family could not afford to buy new ones.

Ismail Sabri Yaakob

"This was also the reason why we could make it mandatory for people to wear masks when at all public places (and only made it compulsory) for crowded spaces and when using public transport.

"Otherwise, many poor people would be fined for failure to wear them," said Ismail.

Asked whether the government was planning to provide reusable masks for students from financially troubled backgrounds, Ismail said there was no decision on the matter yet.

Last month, prior to the implementation of mandatory face mask usage at crowded places and in public transport, health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah had said that the rule would be rolled out in stages.

He also said that the government aimed to provide three-layer fabric face masks to the underprivileged for free. - Mkini