Non-Quarantined University Students’ Perceptions of Food Management during Movement Control Order (MCO)

Sarala Thulasi Palpanadan, Et Al

doi:10.17762/turcomat.v12i2.893

Abstract

Malaysia is one the countries in the world that has declared Movement Control Order (MCO) method to break COVID-19 chain to save the nation from being infected by this contagious outbreak. All learning institutions were ordered to conduct distance learning classes. Students at the residential colleges were involved were separated into the Quarantined and Non-Quarantined categories and their welfare was taken care by the university management under the Department of Student Affairs. Subsequently, the food aspect was one of the crucial issues during this phenomenon. Thus, this study was conducted to investigate the Non-Quarantined residential college students’ perceptions regarding the management of food during the MCO. This quantative study was conducted at Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia (UTHM). A survey was conducted where 520 students responded to the questionnaire distributed via WhatsApp mode. The data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The results obtained were analyzed using Statistical Package for The Social Science Version 25.0 (SPSS 25). The findings indicated that majority of the respondents were satisfied with the food provided and there was no significant difference between the perceptions of male and female students towards the university’s management in handling food during MCO

Highlights

The coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) has become very critical that it was announced as a global pandemic in January 2020 by the World Health Organization (WHO) which aroused global attention [1]
This study looked into the perceptions of students based on gender differences to identify if there were any significant differences occurred between the male students’ perceptions and the female students’ perceptions
This study involved 520 respondents who were the Non-quarantined students who were staying at the university residential colleges during the Movement Control Order (MCO) period carried out in Malaysia

Summary

Introduction

The coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) has become very critical that it was announced as a global pandemic in January 2020 by the World Health Organization (WHO) which aroused global attention [1]. More than 80,000 students’ nationwide living on campus and renting outside were not allowed to return home during MCO period by the Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia (MOHE) This move was implemented as the students were still exposed to the risk of the Covid-19 virus infection. Even though the majority of residential colleges had their own restaurant facilities, due to the MCO period, the restaurants were ordered to close and the students who were locked-down in their residential colleges did not get enough facilities to fulfill their food requirements They were relying on the food supply provided by the respective residential college management. One of the most important factors highlighted in the model is having enough food This aspect was assessed in this study by using the questionnaire that has been developed for data collection.

Findings and Discussion

Differences of Perceptions Based on Gender

Conclusion