Covid-19

Allow Singaporean students of overseas unis access to local uni libraries

It has been well over a year since the Covid-19 pandemic hit.

One of the groups that has been severely affected is Singaporean students who were studying overseas, but are now back here due to the pandemic.

With the Ministry of Health's announcement to defer unnecessary travel abroad, quarantine orders and surging virus cases in certain regions, these students have largely been forced to do online learning.

While these measures are necessary to protect the public's health, they also deprive students of resources such as books.

Although online resources such as library databases have vastly improved, physical books are still required in certain situations. These books, particularly at the university level, do not come cheap.

This financial outlay would not be worth it if the materials are required for only one semester (about four months).

Given the uncertainty over the duration of the pandemic and the hesitancy of governments to relax their border measures for now, it seems improbable that students can return to their overseas universities soon.

In the light of this, local universities should do more to help these students by allowing them to use their library materials and resources.

Tan Sing Kang

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on April 09, 2021, with the headline Allow Singaporean students of overseas unis access to local uni libraries. Subscribe