Masiung
KOTA KINABALU (Oct 3): Kuamut assemblyman Datuk Masiung Banah has called on the government to impose conditions on recipients of the public university admission fee subsidy as it is seen to be unfair to low-income students.
He suggested the Ministry of Higher Education draw up a guideline as a prerequisite for the aid because currently, it is also enjoyed by children of aristocracy and influence.
Masiung insisted that it is very unfair that the children of famous businessmen, political leaders and high-ranking civil servants get the subsidy. He considers this to be an erroneous leakage.
“Subsidy or scholarship offers should have a clear framework and a selection process, where the deserving groups need to be helped so that the gap between the rich and the poor can be bridged.
“I saw the distribution of student fee subsidies being pioneered by students who are the children of the rich due to the influence of their parents’ wealth, while the children of the poor are just left behind.
“This is not fair in the definition of a country, and it needs to be changed because B40 students who are brilliant and talented in education have a narrower space compared to the rich,” he said in a statement on Thursday.
Masiung urged the State and Federal Governments to create a new framework for the subsidy to be presented in the Cabinet so that the people see that the government today is being fair to the poor.
The Parti Gagasan Rakyat Sabah (Gagasan Rakyat) vice president said that the majority of tuition fee subsidies are borne by the government for Bachelor’s and Diploma level courses at public universities, and these are also enjoyed by the children of aristocracy and influence.
He gave an example – the tuition fee for Bachelor of Software Engineering at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) costs RM88,152 for a four-year study period, but through the subsidy, students only have to pay RM7,520.
The subsidy covers all students entering the 2024/2025 academic year, including those from high-income families.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has hinted that university fee subsidies for the children of the rich may be halted.
