By Irdina Zainudin
GOMBAK, 24 March 2021: Although returning students are required to stay on campus 24/7, regulations enforced during the previous semester have now been lifted to ease the students’ stay within the university, a source from the Office of Security Management (OSEM) said.
According to ASP PB Shahrul Ariffin Maskuri, the Covering Director of OSEM, the move was to help alleviate the problems faced by the students during their stay on campus. This follows the return to university campus for mostly all students to attend to their studies as end of March approaches.
Students are now allowed to dine-in at all cafes, go to the library and play sports at the sports facility, things that students were previously banned from doing before, the source added.
Dr. Siti Masitah Jamaludin, the Chief Medical Officer of IIUM Health and Wellness Centre (IHWC) agrees with ASP PB Shahrul’s statement in allowing students more freedom inside the campus area.
She further stated that there is certain relaxation on other regulations, such as group activities among the students where they are now allowed to play certain group activities although they are still required to follow the SOP.
“As long as it does not involve a mixture of on-campus and out-campus students, those staying in campus are allowed to do activities that involve them in groups,” Dr. Masitah explained.
She further stated that students are only allowed to go in and out of the campus following academic requirements as confirmed and monitored by the department or kulliyyah involved.
Meanwhile, Asst. Prof. Dr. Ahmad Zahirani, the Chief of Principals said that aside from the students’ new freedom on campus, all mahallah will be conducting programmes to fill in students’ time.
He said that students are also encouraged to propose their ideas to their respective principals regarding their activities.
As for now, students are allowed to move freely everywhere within the campus area, as long as they follow the proper SOP and keep physical distancing between one another to stop the spread of the virus.
Despite the freedom given to the students based on relaxation of certain regulations that were imposed previously, students still need to adhere strictly to the SOP. Unlike the previous semester, students are not allowed to go out on outings as of now to control the spread of the virus on the campus.
Dr. Masitah explained that the reason behind the ban on students’ outings is due to the overwhelming high cases in the areas surrounding the campus, and the fact that those areas have been marked as red zone, as of now.
Aside from that, IIUM Gombak campus has just gained green campus status. The ban is to ensure the status remains so, and to avoid another possibility of a positive case of COVID-19 infecting the campus area.
IIUM Student Union (IIUMSU) organised a virtual student-admin dialogue on Monday (22 March) and invited three panelists Dr. Ahmad Zahirani, ASP PB Shahrul and Dr. Siti Masitah to discuss the latest news and to provide students with information and updates regarding the COVID-19 pandemic and the SOP practiced in IIUM.
For the moment, the guidelines will continue to be updated and revised to lessen the stress on the students, the sources added.
If any students have any data or information to help with the process, they are welcome to share the data with Dr. Zulkifli Hasan from the Office of Deputy Rector (Student Development and Community Engagement). ***