PEKAN: Universiti Malaysia Pahang (UMP) students who were forced to postpone their travel plans to return to campus will receive RM100 emergency cash aid each.
UMP Foundation chairman Datuk Seri Md Sharif Shamsuddin said the one-off aid would be given to students who were already in campus and those who were forced to return home while travelling to campus.
He said the foundation's move is to help shoulder the burden of students who had to cancel their tickets at the last minute, which they had purchased to return to the campus for the October intake.
"We have identified about 1,000 students and the number of recipients will increase. The foundation is gathering details through a link set up by UMP's Student Representative Council.
"To assist the students, the foundation has opened applications for zakat pelajar (students tithes) and cost of living aid, to accommodate undergraduates (who need the aid) during the new semester which begins in the middle of this month," he said in a statement.
Sharif said students who are staying at the university's residential colleges could get their daily necessities, including food supplies, for free at the "campus pantry", which has been set up at both the Pekan and Gambang campuses.
He said the UMP Foundation, previously known as MyGift UMP, was set up in October 2016 with the aim of collecting funds for the welfare of UMP undergraduates by sponsoring education and community programmes, and providing extra studying facilities for the students and universities.
On Friday, the Higher Education Ministry called for all institutes of higher learning to postpone physical or face-to-face registration of new and returning students at campus for the October intake.
On Monday, UMP vice-chancellor Prof Dr Wan Azhar Wan Yusoff said new and returning students who had completed their registration for the new semester would attend classes online.