As of 3 p.m. on Feb. 11, a total of 1,197 Macau students in Taiwan had registered in the online system set up by the Macau Higher Education Bureau (DSES) to help students affected by travel restrictions imposed by the coronavirus outbreak.
Taiwan suspended the entry of several Hong Kong and Macau residents yesterday after Taiwan raised its travel alert for Hong Kong and Macau from level two to the highest level three after Hong Kong declared a community outbreak.
The ban does not apply to business contract personnel, international employees transferred to Taiwan, or Hong Kong and Macau residents holding Taiwan resident certificates, their spouses and minor children.
However, the measure affected several Macau students who usually travel to Taiwan between February 12 and 17 after the Lunar New Year holiday.
They are currently unable to travel to Taiwan to continue their studies. Specifically, there are 1,145 students currently enrolled in bachelor’s degree programs, 44 in master’s degree programs, four in doctoral degree programs and four in other diploma programs.
DSEJ said it was working with the Civil Aviation Authority (AACM) and airlines to coordinate ticketing arrangements.
After the relevant school suspension measures are lifted, flights to Taiwan will be increased to allow students to continue their studies (…) Air Macau and EVA Air allow affected students to change the date of their tickets for free, while Tiger Airways allows affected students to cancel their tickets. The bureau has sent emails to the affected students informing them of the ticket arrangements,” DSEJ noted.
Affected students will also be allowed to entrust others to complete enrollment registration, fee payment and course selection procedures at institutions of higher learning, and can continue distance learning courses.
