KUALA LUMPUR: Boarding school students have expressed concern over the rising number of Covid-19 infections involving hostel-based institutions, which now account for the majority of the country's Covid-19 education clusters.
While many felt that their respective schools were doing the best they can to stem infection, some believed that the virus preventive measures are not as strict and fully enforced as they could be.
A teenager, who declined to be named, told the New Straits Times that the standard operating procedures (SOP) at his school, such as the 'mask up' rule, must be adhered to once they step out of their dorms and residential blocks, during lessons in classes and labs, and at dining halls before and after meals, except during physical exercises.
However, he said the adherence to the SOP goes out of the window the moment students return to their dorms and residential areas because they take matters too lightly.
"Once we settle in our dorms, it turns into a no-SOP zone. It is as if Covid-19 is non-existent and there is no pandemic. I have to admit that students themselves do not care about the SOP that much and there are no wardens who remind students to comply with the rules.
"On the other hand, it is not easy to have our masks on all the time in the dorm and at times, it is inconvenient to follow the SOP to a tee.
"Students are also free to visit each other's cubes (sleeping area). I, too, like going to my friends' cubes to hang out. We can mingle with friends of the same level, block and wing only. But before going back to my own, I will ensure that I wash my hands and clean my clothes before I sleep.
"If a student comes down with symptoms like flu or fever, he will be moved to another block which serves as a quarantine area for those who are unwell.
"Not only the students are taking it easy, but even some security guards, cooks, cleaners and a few teachers as well. It is unfortunate but thankfully, there has been no infections in the school so far," he said.
He added that he had also taken upon himself, as part of the student disciplinary board, to remind his peers to always keep their surroundings clean daily.
In classes, tables are spaced between students and they must not remove their masks throughout, but body temperature scan machines are absent.
Hand sanitisers, he said, are not provided by the school and to his knowledge, no disinfection exercises have been conducted in classes, labs and common grounds such as the surau.
"I thought when I returned to school earlier this month, the cleaning process would have been done. But it did not. I found my desk filled with dust and I had to use my own sanitiser.
"Now that the Covid-19 situation is alarming, I hope the school takes proactive steps to conduct sanitisation and disinfection works in classes, labs and the dorms periodically.
"We also have to buy our own Covid-19 Rapid Antigen Test kits as the school does not provide any to us," he added.
He raised concerns over the proximity of students when they perform prayers at the surau as the placement of prayer mats have been reduced from one metre apart to about half or a quarter-metre.
"I do not feel comfortable with the new arrangement as there is no distance from one to another. Moreover, most students tend to take their face masks off during prayers.
"I will only remove it if there are fewer people at the surau, such as during Zohor and Asar times. But I will keep it on when there are more people such as during Maghrib or Friday prayers," he added.
The school, he added, did not compromise on safety, especially when students returned after a weekend at home and they were under the watchful eyes of their teachers and wardens when they were picked up and dropped off.
Parents are not allowed to get out of their cars and will have to wait for their children, who are required to mask up when they leave the dorms and get into their respective vehicles.
"We are not allowed to hug our friends goodbye. We also need to do a Covid-19 test 24-hours before going back to the dorm and once there, we cannot leave our beds and mingle around.
"During these times, the SOP is strict because our teachers and wardens will be supervising." he said.
Last week, Malaysia registered 52 education clusters in the first week after schools reopened this year. Of the total, 27 involved boarding schools.
Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said this was largely due to non-compliance with the SOP during and outside formal school hours, especially at dorms where wearing of face masks was not at the optimal level, no social distancing and while taking part in activities at the mosque.
Other factors, he said, included failure by the students to inform the supervisors at the onset of symptoms, asymptomatic teachers who attended classes, students undergoing quarantine who did not comply with the quarantine instructions, areas at schools not disinfected regularly and inadequate ventilation system.
Meanwhile, another boarding school student from a separate institution said she and her classmates emphasised greatly toeing the SOP as they cannot afford to have their studies disrupted.
She said they were aware of the consequences if one of them were to contract the virus and do their best every day to wear face masks as much as possible, keep clean and regularly wash their hands whether they are in class or in the dorm.
"We are aware of the SOP, which the Health Ministry stressed on as well as our school which gives us endless reminders.
"We are lucky to have the support from the school's Parent-Teacher Association that pools funds to contribute to the purchase of Covid-19 self-test kits for students. This has enabled us to conduct tests every Monday to ensure that we are virus-free.
"The school also provides us with hand sanitisers at common areas and my parents would also supply me with more regularly.
"To minimise external contact, we are not allowed to go home during the weekends for now.
"If we need certain necessities, we could either buy it from a shop in the school or have our parents courier it to us, but this requires prior consent from our teachers," she said.
In her dorm, the number of beds are limited to below 20, whereby they are placed a metre apart.
For hygiene purposes, she does her laundry once every two days during when bed sheets, pillowcases and school uniforms are washed.
"My classmates and I always look out for each other and take note if someone is being lax with the SOP, or is feeling unwell. They will be referred to our teacher who will assess if there is a need to be sent to the clinic, given medication or have their parents take them home.
"We are on high alert because we are also afraid of contracting the virus. We do not want to be exposed to the risk and jeopardise our studies. So far, my classmates are very cooperative."