Minister: Don't return to university yet, directive to clear out dorms withdrawn

Students who are trying to secure interstate travel permission to return to their universities in order to clear out their belongings at dormitories no longer need to do so, said Defence Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob.

Ismail, who did not name the universities, said they have withdrawn the instruction to students to clear out their dormitories.

Malaysiakini understands that it involves a public university in the Klang Valley and another in Pahang.

"Interstate travel is still not allowed apart from the exemptions mentioned.

"I have been informed by the (Higher Education) Ministry that the instruction to clear out the dorms have been retracted.

"So there is no need for students to rush back to campus to collect their things. We will allow it when the time is right but wait, (the time is) not now," he told a press conference in Putrajaya today.

Ismail was asked about students' predicament to retrieve their belongings as police have refused their request for interstate travel to their university as it did not constitute an emergency.

Public university students who were stranded on campus during the movement control order since March 18 have mostly been bussed home by the government in late April.

The Higher Education Ministry on May 27 decided that all learning at public universities will be conducted online for the rest of this year.

This means students who have returned home will see their belongings including motorcycles left unattended at their dormitories for the rest of the year.

As students will no longer need to be on campus until the end of the year, a number of public universities had asked students to take their belongings home. - Mkini