CORONAVIRUS | A total of 790 students from institutions of higher learning departed from nine centres in Kuala Lumpur, Selangor and Putrajaya to return home last night.

Higher Education Minister Noraini Ahmad said the students were from nine institutions including eight public higher education institutions (IPTA) with 759 students and one polytechnic and community college with 31 students.

Noraini said the nine centres are at Universiti Islam Antarabangsa Malaysia (UIAM), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), Universiti Malaya (UM), Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) Shah Alam, Universiti Pertahanan Nasional Malaysia (UPNM), Universiti Teknologi Malaysia Kuala Lumpur branch (UTM KL), Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia Kuala Lumpur branch (USIM KL) and Politeknik Premier Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah.

The breakdown of IPTA students who travelled last night are: 89 from UIAM, 150 from UKM, 164 from UM, 80 from UPM, 146 from UiTM Shah Alam, 50 from UPNM, 49 from UTM KL, 31 from USIM KL and 31 from Politeknik Premier Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah.

She said to ensure the safety and smooth movement of students to 17 destinations in three states in the north, the journey from the centres commenced at 9 pm using 50 buses which have been sanitised.

“From the total, 32 buses would be heading to Kedah, 13 buses to Penang and five buses to Perlis,” she told Bernama when observing preparations for the movement at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM).

She added that a family representative would meet the student at the police headquarters or district police office identified.

“For families who could not meet the student at the location of arrival, the student concerned would be sent by a government agency involved,” she said.

The government had earlier decided to allow students to travel from green zones to their homes in green zones in stages to reduce the risk of spreading COVID-19 infection.

Meanwhile, 150 students left UKM and they comprised 68 UKM students while 82 students were from various IPT.

The return journey of students from UKM began at around 11 pm with the first bus bringing students back to Kubang Pasu, Kedah.

All preparations for UKM students’ return involved the cooperation of the Ministry of Health, National Security Council, Fire and Rescue Department, National Disaster Management Agency (NADMA), and police.

After waiting for more than 40 days since the implementation of the Movement Control Order (MCO) on March 18, students of public and private institutions of higher learning were elated to be allowed to return home in stages.

Among the students who were excited and happy to be able to go home, was UKM Political Science student, Muhammad Jurais Abdullah, 23, who took a bus to Arau, Perlis.

“I am of course happy and very much looking forward to spend the month of Ramadan and Aidilfitri with my family,” he said.

Jurais also thanked the Higher Education Ministry and all involved to make their journey home possible.

Earlier, to comply with the standard operating procedure (SOP), all UKM students had to undergo screening for body temperature, cough, flu, sore throat and breathing difficulties at the university’s medical centre before starting their trip home.

- Bernama

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