For the second semester of academic session 2019/2020, students at public universities will be receiving a discount of up to 15% for their varsity fees. This includes hostel and service fees.
Such a decision was made due to the complaints and feedback received from parents as well as students whose household income had been seriously affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, according to Bernama.
Datuk Dr Noraini Ahmad, Ministry of Higher Education stated that a total allocation of RM72 million is needed in this move where RM20 million has already been approved by the Ministry of Finance. Meanwhile, the remaining RM52 million will be taken from the internal allocation of the public universities.
The minister said 523,318 students will benefit from this implementation, responding to the question by Datuk Seri Shamsul Iskandar Mohd Akin (PH-Hang Tuah Jaya). Shamsul Iskandar wanted to know the government’s decision in refunding part of the fees as students were not able to attend classes during the MCO period.
Additionally, Noraini also mentioned that IPT is given the flexibility to choose the suitable mode of conducting lessons based on the programmes. Regardless of online teaching or physical, the process must always follow the standard operating procedures instructed by the government.
Starting this month, four other categories of students have been allowed to return to their respective campuses in stages before the full reopening of all universities in October.
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