By Liew Hanqing

SOME students donned masks, but most were milling around like they would on a normal school day.

It was mostly business as usual at Republic Polytechnic (RP), despite the polytechnic having 66 confirmed cases of the InfluenzaA(H1N1).

RP spokesman Khng Eu Meng said some 4,500 first-year students were granted a week's leave of absence from school, as the students who had been diagnosed with the virus were mostly first-year students.

He said: 'The students will, however, be continuing with e-learning sessions from home. They will be back in school on Thursday.'

Students are required to take their temperature twice a day, and can get masks at the polytechnic. Even visitors can get masks.

Students The New Paper spoke to were concerned about whether enough was being done to contain the spread of the virus on campus.

Said a second-year student: 'RP is quite a small place, and the buildings are all inter-connected.

' It would be easy to get infected if, for example, we happen to take the same lift as an infected person.'

A third-year student, who had just got a mask from the polytechnic, said he was 'not too worried' about getting ill.

However, he said: 'Some of my friends are thinking of writing in to encourage the school to do a thorough clean-up so that the situation will not worsen.'

Another third-year student agreed, saying he felt 'more precautions could be taken'.

He said: 'On our part, we have to be responsible and take our temperatures twice every day. But it would be easier if the school just shut down for an additional week.'

A student has even set up an online petition which is critical of the way the polytechnic has handled the outbreak.

Some 1,900 signatures have been collected so far.

Added the third-year student: 'My sister is in Nanyang Polytechnic (NYP), and they're starting school a week later. RP should really do the same.'

NYP started a week of home-based e-learning for its 15,000 students yesterday.

The polytechnic has also rescheduled tests which were originally planned for this week.

But Madam Fu Cai Xia, 46, whose daughter is studying at RP, thinks it is enough that students exercise good hygiene.

She said in Mandarin: 'They can't do much except to be more careful.

'After all, the students are all old enough to know what to do.'

This article was first published in The New Paper.