BY: AFIX REDZUAN
PETALING JAYA, AUG 11: KEADILAN has launched a Higher Education Complaint and Advisory Portal (HEAP) to assist students who failed to get offers from public institutes of higher education (IPTA) or who were offered courses not of their choice.
KEADILAN Strategic Director Sim Tze Tzin said the website is open to all post-STPM (or equivalent) students who want to complain to KEADILAN MPs.
“They just have to fill up a complaint form on HEAP website heap.keadilanrakyat.org.
“Upon receiving the student’s complaint, we will collect data we receive for analysis,” he said.
Sim said appeals to HEAP are only an additional means and closing date for complaint submission is August 22, 2016.
However, students are required to firstly appeal to UPU through their website upu.mohe.goy.my before the said date.
In a press conference at KEADILAN headquarters, he said the IPTA students’ intake in 2016 totaling 39,862 was the lowest since 2013.
He said the decline is believed to be related to the significant IPTA budget cuts in the 2016 Budget.
“The budget cut is due to mismanaged economics under the Prime Minister, a result of failure to control the country’s debts in addition to other scandals such as 1MDB.
“Many IPTAs are now in a state of budget-crisis,” he said.
In the 2016 Budget, the Federal Government cut 16.48% of IPTA budget allocation to RM7.31 billion for 2016.
This is a decrease of RM1.44 billion compared to RM8.75 billion in 2015.
“KEADILAN’s viewpoint is education for the young generation is of utmost importance for the nation’s development.
“The Government should increase the IPTA budget as it is a wise investment,” he said.
KEADILAN launches HEAP to assist student appeals
