BY: ERMIZI MUHAMAD
KUALA LUMPUR, OCT 17: “Pakatan’s administration in Selangor has a special allocation for free education for students of University of Selangor (UNISEL),” said Gombak Member of Parliament Dato’ Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali.
The allocation includes Skim Dermasiswa, implemented by UNISEL for students who are eligible to enter the state-owned university.
Mohamed Azmin said that a bigger allocation will be channeled for that purpose if Pakatan takes over Putrajaya.
“If we take over administration of Putrajaya, nothing stops us from giving free education.
“In fact, now that we are managing Selangor, we have already provided a special allocation for that purpose,” he said during the morning debate session in Dewan Rakyat, which had convened for the fourth term.
He was answering questions raised by Besut Member of Parliament Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh regarding the offer of free education in Pakatan’s manifesto.
Idris claimed that Pakatan did not keep its promise to provide free education as stated in its manifesto.
The Higher Education Minister’s statement was lambasted by Mohamed Azmin, who referred to the approach taken by UNISEL since 2008.
From last January till April, a total of 500 students in their foundation year of Science and Information Technology had received the assistance.
In fact, the offer has also been extended to those entering the October 2016 session in UNISEL.
The scheme is effective in the sense that it does not require students to apply for Pinjaman Perbadanan Tabung Pendidikan (PTPTN) loans, which will burden them after completion of their studies.
Azmin: Special allocation for free education at UNISEL
