KUALA LUMPUR – The government has laid out the details for entry of foreign students to the country, but it only applies to existing students.
Senior Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said the students, who can enter the country beginning January 21, must also have their applications to study approved beforehand and already have obtained their student visas from the Immigration Department.
He had mentioned recently that the National Security Council (NSC) is allowing admission of students to public and private tertiary education institutions as well as international schools.
At a press conference today, he said the government has agreed to expand the decision to also allow foreign students to enroll in educational institutions that fell under the “centres” category.
“This involves language centers, skills centres, training centres, tuition centres, and mind development centres,” he said.
He also said that the admission would be managed by Education Malaysia Global Services which needs to abide with guidelines and procedures set by the Immigration Department, NSC, and the National Disaster Management Agency (Nadma)
“The students must undergo Covid-19 screenings three days before departing for Malaysia and again upon arrival at the country’s entry point. After that, they need to undergo a compulsory quarantine at centres gazetted by the government for seven days,” he said.
He added that the cost of the screenings must be borne by the students.
On Tuesday, Ismail Sabri had said that foreign students – both existing and new ones – will be able to enter Malaysia to resume their studies starting next month, except those from the United Kingdom.
“They need to be screened for Covid-19 three days before departure and will undergo another screening when they reach KLIA. For international school students, their guardians will also be allowed to enter Malaysia,” he had said.
“They will be taken to a quarantine centre for 10 days. The costs of the tests will be borne by the students. However, only those who have already secured proper accommodations will be allowed entry into Malaysia,” he said on Tuesday.
“If they don’t have it (accommodations), then we will not allow them to enter the country.”
On October 4, the government announced that entry of all international students had been postponed to December 31.
On another matter, Ismail Sabri also said 169 people were arrested yesterday for various offences related to the movement control order (MCO). He said the offences included failure to wear face masks in public, among others, adding that they all received compounds for the violations.
The minister also said the authorities recorded 31 cases of infringements at entertainment centres.
The authorities also detained a total of 49 illegal immigrants yesterday and confiscated seven land vehicles, Ismail Sabri said. – The Vibes, December 24, 2020
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