By Hidayah Sahrunizam
GOMBAK, 9 November 2020: The IIUM Student Union (IIUMSU) and other relevant parties have cooperated to look into students’ well-being in the light of the extension of the conditional movement control order (CMCO).
The government has recently announced that the states in Peninsular Malaysia, except Perlis, Pahang and Kelantan, have been placed under the CMCO from 9 November until 6 December 2020.
IIUMSU has conducted a survey recently to gather feedback from the students to get an overview on the conditions of students in many aspects including financial, mental health and on-campus affairs.
A report on the findings of the survey has been prepared by IIUMSU. The findings showed that 18.3% of the respondents reported not having enough money to pay for their basic needs for the next one month. Most of these students come from the B40 category and are self-sponsored.
To ease the hardship, IIUMSU has suggested for these students to receive free foods or for the authorities to reduce the students’ tuition fees.
Regarding the state of mental health faced by some students, it was found that the main factors that contributed to such situation were largely due to academic issues, financial problems and feelings of being isolated or lonely.
Students also highlighted their concerns and challenges due to not being able to do outdoor physical activities, apart from not being able to socialise outside their room and to run errands outside campus.
Regarding on-campus affairs, students have shared their concerns on matters like allowing them to dine-in at food premises but subjected to strict compliance of standard operating procedures (SOP).
Students also believed that sports that do not involve physical contact should be allowed and that the library too should be open for on-campus students to use the facilities as the library has ample study space.
Another concern highlighted by students is regarding fee payment where a number of students believed that the fee payment period should be extended or be given a longer grace period.
IIUMSU believed that progressive change must be done by the authorities in the current educational ecosystem to sustainably address the urgent issues affecting the students.
IIUMSU also expressed the hope that the report could serve to guide the authorities in making decisions and policies arising from the COVID-19 pandemic.
For information on IIUMSU CMCO report, students can refer to the link: http://cmco.iiumstudentunion.com.my ***