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Negligence of KMNS leaves Innocent Students Infected with COVID-19

While preventive measures are introduced and movements are restricted by our government to reduce the transmission of COVID-19 viruses, the management of Negeri Sembilan Matriculation College (KMNS) is blasted for improper handling of the rising cluster in the campus, causing many innocent students to be at risk

According to a student from KMNS who tested positive for Covid-19, the Ministry of Education (MOE) instructed the students from all matriculation colleges to return to their respective campuses for physical exams. However, the swab test was not carried out by the management and the students were sent straight to their dorm rooms once they reached the campuses. The dorm rooms were too crowded for students to maintain social distancing. Moreover, face masks and hand sanitiser were not prepared by the management. Students were expected to bring theirs instead.
The said student also revealed that he and his roommates were sent to a surau with 60 students squeezed in for quarantine after having close contact with an infected person. No protective screen was set in between the students due to the limited space of the surau. Furthermore, the management refused to disclose the number of cases and any prevention plans and reminded the students not to “create any troubles” to the management.
After about ten students, including the student concerned were tested positive, they were moved to another unit of the campus for quarantine. What made them devastated more was that the unit was too small to fit all of them in and some had to sleep in the living room. The facilities were insufficient to provide a suitable learning space for the students. Moreover, the management even did not provide them with the contact number of any medical staff for them to contact in case of emergency situations happening to them. After staying at the unit for a night, the students were hospitalised in 27th January at MAEPS, Serdang.
NESA Malaysia strongly condemns the failure of KPM and KMNS management in handling the rising positive cases on the campus, which caused more and more students to be infected. Prior to the returning of the students, the management should have worked with the Ministry of Health to ensure that all measures comply with the SOPs, instead of disregarding the students’ safety.
In fact, many students had signed petitions requesting MOE to call off the return-to-campus policy. They requested for the replacement of physical exams to online exams to reduce the risk of virus transmission. However, the proposal was rejected by the MOE, causing all the students, including those from red zones, to have to follow the order returning to the campuses for physical exams. The ignorance of MOE, as well as its incapability in executing efficient and effective policies, had directly caused the students to contract Covid-19 with possible permanent side effects. MOE should bear the full responsibility for requesting matriculation students to return to the campuses amidst the worsening of the pandemic.
We urge MOE and the management of matriculation colleges for better preventive measures taken that comply with the SOPs, and at the same time for them to sincerely apologize to all affected students.
New Student Movement Alliance of Malaysia (NESA)







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