The Malaysian government has agreed to lower the fee of public university facilities and hostels up to 15% to help ease the burden of institutions following the deadly Covid-19 pandemic.
The Deputy Minister of Higher Education, Datuk Dr Mansor Othman, has reached a consensus after negotiating between the Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE) and the Ministry of Finance (MOF).
According to the Deputy, this decision will benefit 533,318 students nationwide that are studying in public institutions of higher learning (IPTA).
He continued his statement by reassuring the public that they have been attentive towards this situation and have heard concerns from students, parents, and stakeholders regarding the issue of paying university fees. The payment subsidy is an effort to help students and parents from being burdened with financial issues from the Covid-19 outbreak.
“As a result of the negotiations, the government agreed to reduce hostel fees, service fees, and public university activity costs by up to 15% after taking into account the government’s financial capabilities.”
According to Astro Awani, Datuk Azizah Mohd Dun (BN-Beaufort) inquired about the status of students’ tuition fees for IPTA and private institutions (IPTS) during a Dewan Rakyat session. She also further inquired about the ministry’s initiative in regards to the online system learning for students who live in rural areas and in need of Internet access.
For the first question, The Deputy answered that the structure for tuition fees will be the same despite the outbreak of Covid-19. However, the government has allocated large funds for the education sector through the People’s Concerned Economic Stimulus Package (PRIHATIN).
The benefits will include giving students RM200 on a one-off basis, providing food to students on campus as well as the deferral of PTPTN payments to 1.5 million borrowers.
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