Wednesday March 11, 2009
Boost for tertiary education
Hishammuddin’s reaction to the mini budget
THE Government is helping more Malaysians pursue Master’s and PhD courses during the slowdown.
Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said it would finance tuition fees and research grants up to RM20,000 for every student pursuing a PhD locally and RM10,000 for students pursuing a Master’s programme.
“A total of 500 places at PhD level and 10,000 at Masters level in public universities as well as at Universiti Tenaga Nasional, Multimedia University and Universiti Teknologi Petronas will be offered,” he said.
Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin was happy that the stimulus package took into the consideration the needs and problems faced by fresh graduates during the current economic slowdown.
“Not only are there several schemes for unemployed graduates, the Government is also helping them further their studies by providing financial aid,” he said at the Parliament lobby.
Mohamed Khaled said the stimulus package provided graduates with plenty of opportunities to pick up skills and be retrained, including through collaborative programmes with the private sector.
“The Government also wants graduates to be more independent and to become entrepreneurs through the expansion of schemes like the PROSPER Graduate Pro-gramme,” he said.
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia vice-chancellor Datuk Dr Sharifah Hapsah Syed Hasan Shahabudin said it already had plans to increase its Master’s intake.
“We encourage students to take up postgraduate courses as it is a long-term investment,” she said.
Meanwhile, Education Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein said the 1,000 additional posts for graduate teachers, who would be hired on contract, would enable the ministry to address the shortage of teachers in certain sectors.
“We hope to hire more English Language teachers,” he said at the Parliament lobby.
Hishammuddin added that a special unit within the ministry would ensure the RM1.95bil given to improve facilities in 752 schools under the second stimulus package would be utilised fully.
The RM300mil for religious, Chinese, Tamil and mission schools showed the Government’s commitment to all Malaysians, regardless of race or religion, he said.
“This allocation is in addition to the RM200mil announced in the first stimulus package,” he said.
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