BANGI: The Ministry of Higher Education (MoHE) has given assurance that no one from the six categories of students who are allowed to return to their campuses starting March 1 will be ordered to go home upon arrival at their respective universities.
Minister Datuk Seri Dr Noraini Ahmad said the registration process for the students will also be carried out in compliance with the standard operating procedures (SOP) set by the National Security Council (NSC) and the Ministry fo Health (MOH).
“Insya-Allah, the MoHE and the universities will ensure that all students returning to campus will be granted entry.
”We will make sure that there will be no issue of students being ordered to go home upon returning to campus and we hope that the student registration process will run smoothly and properly this time around,” she told reporters after making an official visit to Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) here Wednesday.
Last October, university students were ordered to return home upon arrival at their campuses after the ministry postponed physical registration of students for the 2020/2021 academic session following the spike in the number of COVID-19 cases.
Noraini said students who wish to stay home can continue to do so as the teaching and learning (PdP) sessions will still be held in a hybrid format which combines face-to-face and online teaching.
The students from the six categories allowed to physically return to their respective campuses are certificate, diploma, bachelor's degree and postgraduate students who need to conduct practicals at laboratories, workshops, studios and require special equipment.
Students who do not have access to the online facility or those without conducive environments in which to undergo PdP; pre-university and diploma students who have been staying on campus; existing and new international students – except those from the United Kingdom; disabled students; and students taking the Malaysia University English Test, international, and professional examinations.
On the visit, Noraini said she was satisfied with the university’s preparations to ensure smooth running of the student registration process, which will involve over 7,000 students, next month.
She said this includes the counters made available for a drive-through body temperature check and isolation hostel to temporarily house the students from the red zones before they were allowed to attend their classes.
