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PETALING JAYA (THE STAR / ASIA NEWS NETWORK) – A directive issued for students enrolled in Malaysia to return to their universities for classes and face-to-face exams has caused outrage among parents and students.
An online petition was launched two weeks ago, requesting that the Ministry of Education seek alternative methods, as Covid-19 cases have risen to four digits a day for the past two months.
Malaysia recorded a new daily infection record of 2,335 last Saturday (December 26).
The petition called the ministry’s directive “unreasonable” as students from different states would be congregating on campus, putting them at high risk of contracting the virus.
The petition obtained 11,600 signatures at press time.
An official in the ministry’s Enrollment Department, which offers a one- or two-year pre-college preparatory program before entering colleges, told The Star that the decision to take the face-to-face exams was made after screening the students. students.
The exams, the person said on condition of anonymity, will take place from January 6 to 13 next year.
“According to the instructions we received, the exams should be taken in person rather than online. This is because upon verification, we realized that many of our students do not have access to the Internet,” he said.
“We must be fair to everyone; many students live in rural areas with little connectivity,” said the official.
He added that the universities would reopen on January 4 and preparations were made in accordance with the Covid-19 health protocols of the Ministry of Health.
Aside from the petition, several students and parents have written to The Star to air their complaints.
A student who only wants to be known as Chan said the decision was dangerous due to the increase in Covid-19 cases.
“It feels like there are no practical and safe SOPs in hostels and cafes.
“This is for a number of reasons. First, four students share a single 250-square-foot shelter room, so there is little to no adequate physical distancing.
“Each floor has about 100 students who have to share a single bathroom. And the campus cafes are always full of students during lunchtime,” Chan said.
In another email, a mother who identified herself only as Ooi said that she and her husband were “extremely concerned” for the safety of their daughter.
“We are dismayed. Are face-to-face exams and studies more important than the safety and lives of our children?
“What puzzles me is that if other colleges and universities can take their exams online, why can’t our enrollment colleges do the same?” she wrote.
Ooi said her daughter, who is studying at Kolej Matrikulasi Selangor, along with the other students, were instructed to return to the university from Monday to Sunday.
Nurul, a student at Penang Matriculation College, said there were about 3,000 students at her university.
“All of our classes were conducted online. It is dangerous and illogical for us to go back to college just to take the Matrikulasi exam face-to-face.
“Some of my professors had also informed us that they would keep us in our universities for six months until the end of the second semester.
“This will surely cause mental health problems among the students,” he said.
The chair of the Malaysian Parent Action Group for Education, Datin Noor Azimah Abdul Rahim, said the ministry must embrace the new normal.
Insisting that students be physically present does not bode well, he said.
Melaka Action Group for Parents in Education president Mak Chee Kin said that while he understood the anxiety that students and parents were feeling, he said it could possibly be the ministry’s only option.
“The problems of lack of access to devices and an Internet connection have yet to be resolved,” he said, “leaving universities with a responsibility to ensure that SOPs are strictly followed.”
“Another option these universities have is to teach hybrid lessons, whereby only students who do not have online access then return to the university for face-to-face lessons, while those with devices and Internet access can study from home.” , said. .
Malaysia’s primary and secondary schools across the country will reopen on January 20, instead of the usual January 2.
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