PUTRAJAYA, July 10 — Boarding school students in Form Four as well as Standards Five and Six are allowed to return to their hostels from July 15, Senior Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said today.

He added that students in other grades can return from August 3.

He stressed that health screenings will be performed beforehand to control the Covid-19 outbreak and that the school authorities must ensure social distancing in the dormitories.

“Only students who are healthy can return. A health screening will be done. The school administration will ensure that the beds will be separated at least one meter.

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“The one-metre marker will be put down on special rooms such as the toilet, pantry and other places,” he told a press conference here.

Ismail said the school authorities should ready quarantine rooms for such students, to ensure they do not mingle with their peers, including others who may be unwell with non-coronavirus symptoms in the sick bay.

“Students with symptoms should also be placed in the sick bay/health room and isolated from other sick students,” he said.

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On July 1, Education Minister Mohd Radzi Md Jidin said all schools will have to choose one of three models in order to adhere to the social distancing standard operating procedure (SOP) before they are allowed to run at full capacity starting July 15.

Schools that have ample space are expected to choose either the first or second model — one or two school sessions a day — while those with limited space must adopt the rotation model.

Mohd Radzi explained that the rotation model is for schools — likely located in high population density areas — that do not have enough space to accommodate all students even if they were to implement the two-session model.

He also said that for boarding schools, it will take about 28 to 42 days from June 24 for the implementation to be done as they are facing difficulties due to the use of bunk beds for students.