Parents who cross borders to send children to school don't need police letter

 

Parents sending their children to schools or hostels outside of their home district or state don't have to obtain a permission letter from the police.

Defence Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said a letter from the school is enough to show police officers at roadblocks.

"The technical meeting held yesterday agreed that parents sending their children (to schools outside district/state) don't need a permission letter from the police.

"They only have to show a letter from the school when they go through the roadblock," he said in a media briefing today.

Ismail added that he also discussed the matter with the police, and it is learned that police officers at district levels nationwide have been informed of this update.

Schools will be reopened on March 1 for primary school students while secondary school students will return to school in April.

In a separate matter, Ismail announced good news for buskers that they are now allowed to perform in areas under the movement control order (MCO).

"The government listened to the appeal from full-time buskers who rely on shows for their livelihood.

"They are now allowed to perform in MCO areas just like areas under conditional MCO and recovery MCO, with a condition that they adhere to the standard operating procedures," he said.

Meanwhile, beginning March 5, meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions (Mice) activities are allowed in MCO areas with a maximum of 250 people, 25 percent of the premise's capacity, or whichever is smaller.

Ismail said this decision came after a presentation by the Ministry of Tourism, Arts, and Culture which stated that revenue from the Mice industry plummeted from RM9.25 billion in 2019 to RM2.25 billion last year.

Apart from that, more than 5,000 workers in the industry had lost their jobs and industry players were at risk of shutting their businesses in the near future due to the movement restrictions.

Asked about the reopening of the country's borders, Ismail said it is too early to reopen when vaccines have just arrived in the country.

He said the government is also waiting for updates from the World Health Organisation regarding "vaccine passports". - Mkini