KUALA LUMPUR: Educational issues took centre stage in the Dewan Rakyat today as Members of Parliament (MPs) debated the Supply Bill 2025.
The issues raised include equal opportunity to education at the school level or institutions of higher education (IPT), education funding, and comprehensive allocations for all aspects of the education sector.
Syahredzan Johan (PH-Bangi) started the ball rolling when he proposed government allocate special funding for special education centres for children with disabilities including centres under the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development.
“We need more special education classes in schools, especially in densely populated and rapidly developing areas. We also need more centres that can provide support for formal special education in schools,“ he said in his debate.
At the IPT level, he called on the government to establish a special fund to provide educational aid to Indian students nationwide. The Indian community is seen as being disproportionately disadvantaged in various aspects, including education, he said.
Syahredzan proposed setting aside RM100 million, which can be used by 5,000 recipients annually, with a one-off grant of RM20,000 to Indian students from low-income families.
Meanwhile, Datuk Willie Anak Mongin (GPS-Puncak Borneo) said all students have a right to fair access to education regardless of their religion. Therefore, the government should be fair in offering Majlis Amanah Rakyat (MARA) educational sponsorship programmes to Bumiputera students, including those who are not Muslim.
“I don’t want to politicise this matter, but this is what happened and was reported in my area. I want to know the data on how many non-Muslim Bumiputera children are sponsored by MARA so that they can have access to good education.
“I also ask the MADANI Government to be fair to students of other races (to get an education). Because if we can undertake ‘jihad’ to receive subsidy deductions and pay taxes, why can’t we undertake ‘jihad’ for (Malaysian) Chinese and Indian children to get a fair education for the good of the nation?” he asked.
Tan Hong Pin (PH-Bakri) proposed that the government introduce a more flexible quality higher education policy so that it can be accessed by all levels of society, especially in terms of tuition fees.
He said the fees for open admission at public higher education Institutions (IPTA) were seen as high compared to private higher education Institutions’ (IPTS) rates.
“The applicants for the open admission do not all come from well-to-do families. On the contrary, many are forced to take this step because public universities were seen as charging lower fees than IPTS,“ he said.
Other MPs who raised education issues included Isnaraissah Munirah Majilis@Fakharudy (Warisan-Kota Belud), Datuk Iskandar Dzulkarnain Abdul Khalid (PN-Kuala Kangsar) and William Leong Jee Keen (PH-Selayang).
The sitting continues on Monday.
