KUALA LUMPUR: A Number of public and private higher learning institutions will conduct online classes to curb the Covid-19 outbreak.
Taylor’s University announced that classes will go online from March 23 to April 19 and has rescheduled its graduation ceremony slated for next month.
Its president and Vice-Chancellor Professor Michael Driscoll said while the campus remained open to all, employees were encouraged to work from home.
“Classes will commence as planned. The only difference being all sessions will be conducted virtually starting March 23, including orientation for the new batch of students.
“All events and extracurricular activities are either cancelled or postponed and we are rescheduling the April convocation ceremony to a later date,” he said yesterday.
He said to mitigate the risk of interruptions to daily teaching and learning activities, each course in the university had a virtual course site with features for online assessment, tutoring, submission and forums to provide students with the opportunity to explore outside the classroom.
“While there have been no reports of Covid-19 within our campus, the health and safety of our students and staff are our number one priority.”
International Islamic University Malaysia said it would enhance the use of virtual approaches to education.
The university’s rector, Professor Emeritus Tan Sri Dzulkifli Abdul Razak, said the university was vigilant and would ensure that the campus remained conducive for education and interaction.
“The situation in the university is well under control, since we started monitoring the situation from Jan 28 until today.
“Since we started the semester this year, all classes have gone according to schedule, with some classes conducting online teaching and e-learning.
“From today, we will create more opportunities for other lecturers and professors who want to use this medium to teach students,” he said in his address that was posted on the university’s YouTube channel yesterday.
In Pahang, University Malaysia Pahang (UMP) activated virtual classes for the Gambang and Pekan campuses from March 16 to April 12.
UMP Vice-Chancellor Dr Wan Azhar Wan Yusoff yesterday said all physical and face-to-face lectures, including in lecture rooms and labs, would be immediately suspended until a further date.
He said following the decision, all academic staff would implement online e-learning methods through KALAM, UMP’s Knowledge and Learning Management System, during the actual lecture session using any appropriate online applications.
All administrative and academic staff, he said, were required to work from home, except those involved in vital tasks, such as security or health.
In Perak, Universiti Teknologi Petronas’ Academic Committee decided that classes would be conducted online until March 20.
“Lecturers are required to upload their teaching and learning materials into ULearn (the university’s e-learning system).
“All communications between lecturers and students are to be done via online platforms to support teaching and learning.”
In Penang, Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) ordered a temporary lockdown of all its campuses for three weeks from today until April 5.
USM Vice-Chancellor Professor Dr Faisal Rafiq Mahamd Adikan said the lockdown, to be implemented in stages, would require staff at schools and academic or research centres to work from home until March 22 in the first phase.
He said this would involve all Centres of Responsibility, except those that were central agencies providing major services to the university.
He said USM would shift the mid-semester break scheduled for April 6-12 to March 30 to April 4.
“Students are not barred from going home during the mid-semester break.
“However, they are strongly advised to remain on campus throughout the duration of the break.
“This is meant to avoid further risk of the Covid-19 outbreak.”
All access into USM campuses would be restricted, he said, adding that visitors would be required to undergo health screenings at the checkpoint nearest to the entrance they enter from.
“Congregational Friday prayers this week will not be performed at Masjid Al-Malik Khalid USM. Members of the congregation are requested to perform Zohor prayers at home.” --Additional reporting by Zahratulhayat Mat Arif and Audrey Dermawan