Kuala lumpur: The Ministry of Youth and Sports (KBS) has directed all Youth and Sports Skills Training Institutions (ILKBS) to consider granting special leave to students who need to return home to vote in General Elections (GE), State Elections, or by-elections. KBS stated that its Youth Skills Development Division (BPKB) had issued a notification letter to all ILKBS directors regarding the implementation of the special leave for eligible student voters.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, every vote is a voice that determines the nation's future and ILKBS students should not have to face the dilemma of choosing between attending skills training and fulfilling their responsibility as citizens. Applications for special leave must be submitted to the ILKBS management and will be considered based on the location of the polling center, reasonable traveling time, as well as the need to coordinate training and learning schedules, the ministry mentioned in a statement.

Applications are subject to the approval of the respective ILKBS directors to enable the institutions to manage attendance records systematically while ensuring the welfare and safety of students remain a priority. The ministry also instructed all ILKBS to notify eligible student voters early so that applications could be submitted in advance and travel arrangements to their respective polling areas could be made more smoothly and systematically.

KBS urged all eligible ILKBS students to exercise their voting rights responsibly and become part of a generation of youths actively contributing to the strengthening of democracy and national development.