Friday 29 Mar 2024
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KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 28): The Ministry of Education (MOE) has declared Nov 17 to 21 as school holidays for Form 6 students and all students of the Institute of Teacher Education, Matriculation College and Vocational College. 

In a statement on Friday (Oct 28), MOE said the announced school break is for the students aged above 18 to travel home to vote in the 15th general election (GE15) on Nov 19.

"This release period is to allow students to have enough time to travel to and from their respective polling centre locations.

"In connection with this, all classes or activities involving students during that period need to be postponed," MOE said.

The ministry said the declaration of the holidays is a sign of MOE's support for the implementation of Undi18, which was gazetted by the government on Dec 1, 2021 and came into effect from Dec 15, 2021.

Voting age in Malaysia was lowered to 18 from 21 under the new gazettement, with GE15 being the first general election to usher in the change.

According to data from the Election Commission, Undi18 voters will comprise 1.4 million voters this coming GE15.

In a small survey conducted by The Edge between Oct 12 and 19, with a sample size of 186 respondents in the 18-to-20 age bracket, the results found that 77% were planning to vote in GE15.

Another 20% said they were undecided and the remaining 3% indicated they were not voting, with top reasons being ongoing classes and unattractive political parties. Some said they would change their mind if holidays were given.

Edited ByLiew Jia Teng
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