Higher learning students allowed to return home from Apr 27 – Ismail Sabri

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Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob

KUCHING: Students of various higher learning institutions nationwide under the Ministry of Higher Education will be allowed to return home from April 27, said Senior Minister (Security Cluster) Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.

The Minister of Defence said the travel time had been set for between 9pm and 9am, and this is to avert the traffic congestion during day time.

“They are allowed to return to green zones only. Students who are in their respective campuses have been there for a month or so, they are considered free from the Covid-19 infection.

“We will instruct those who want to return home to go through screening before sending them home. They will be provided with face masks too.

“Those who will be transported using bus have to adhere to the practice of social distancing. For instance, if a bus’ capacity is 42 passengers, it will be allowed to ferry only 20 students. Social distancing is to be practised during their journey home,” he told the daily update press conference in Putrajaya today.

Ismail Sabri said students who wished to travel home would be taken directly from their respective campuses to the police station or District Office (DO) in their home area.

From the police station or DO, students will be sent home by the local government agencies including frontliners at the district level, he said.

“Meaning there is no room for them to come into contact with anyone else. It will be straight from the campus to police station and then home,” he explained.

He said students who wished to drive home in their respective vehicles would be allowed to do so as well.

But before they could do this, they must obtain approval from the nearest police station, he added.

“They are allowed to drive home, provided that it is not an interstate journey. And, they are not allowed to bring any passenger, they must drive alone.

“For example, if their campus is in Selangor, they can drive home in Selangor only, and cannot cross other states. Only journeying within a state is allowed,” he stressed.

According to Ismail Sabri, only 85 per cent of the total 53,000 students of various higher learning institutions under the Ministry of Higher Learning such as polytechnics and community colleges had expressed their intention of travelling home.

He said 15 per cent of them had decided to stay behind at their respective campuses.

“Some are not interested in going home, maybe because they need to sit for examination or they do online learning these days. Some of their villages may have no access to the Internet, and they cannot study or do revision,” he pointed out.

For those who decided to stay at campus, he said the government would continue to provide food and drinks for these students.

He added that the cost of both sending students home and taking care of students at campuses would be borne by the government.