KUALA LUMPUR: Education Minister Maszlee Malik (pix) has pledged to fulfil Pakatan Harapan’s promise of providing free tertiary education before the end of its mandate, saying a mechanism is being worked out to study its implementation.
Maszlee said his ministry is in the final stages of a study on cutting down fees charged by public universities.
“The government will ensure it fulfils the promise in coming two to three years,” he told Dewan Rakyat during Question Time.
Maszlee was responding to Datuk Mohd Salim Sharif (BN-Jempol) who asked the ministry to explain the government’s promise of free university education in its election manifesto.
“For now, our priority is to look into our debts. Once the financial constraints are resolved, then the Education Ministry will definitely look into the best ways to implement free education in universities,” he said.
Meanwhile, on a separate matter, Maszlee informed the Dewan Rakyat that the government’s higher education savings scheme (SSPN-i) has collected RM475.6 million in the first nine months of this year.
Maszlee, in a response to a question by Wong Kah Wong (PH-Ipoh Timur), said from January to September 2019, some RM475.6 million entered SSPN-i as deposits, from RM400.7 million in the same period in 2018 and RM263.3 million in 2017.
He added that based on current deposits, PTPTN would be able to give a dividend of 4% a year, which is consistent with the funds deposits for the last five years.
