THE Higher Education Ministry (MOHE) has been urged to examine and refine the university examination system with the implementation of a standard system, acting as a “rulebook” for the university management to curb the spread of COVID-19.
According to Malaysian Youth Parliament (Johor) member S. Kiran Raj, the country’s current COVID-19 situation has made it difficult for students who will sit for face-to-face examinations at their respective universities.
“Many students are worried about their health if they attend face-to-face examinations which possess a higher probability to increase the risk of COVID-19 infection among students, especially for those who live on campus,” he explained.
“In addition, many students complained that they were not given the latest COVID-19 statistics on university campuses especially the number of cases within campus grounds.
“The latest COVID-19 status on campus according to the residential college should therefore be disseminated to students as a reminder to comply with the standard operating procedures (SOPs) set by the university management.”
Kiran went on to point out that the COVID-19 outbreak is a matter of life and death, and therefore there is no compromise when it comes to the health and wellbeing of the students.
“MOHE needs to pay serious attention to the health of the students in these unprecedented times, and as such the students should be given the opportunity to sit for their examinations online as was done previously.”
The country recorded 11,034 new COVID-19 cases on Monday (Feb 7), which brought the cumulative number of cases to 2,925,254.
Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin also said that the country is now experiencing the full Omicron wave with new cases expected to hit 15,000 soon amid the spread of the highly contagious coronavirus variant.
Meanwhile, Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah warned that daily cases are expected to reach 22,000 by the end of March based on the latest reproduction number (RO, pronounced R-naught) of COVID-19 infections in the country.
This is according to the Health Ministry’s estimation based on its Susceptible, Exposed, Infectious and Removed (SEIR) model of daily observed and forecast cases. – Feb 8, 2022
