PETALING JAYA: A committee has been set up to support and strengthen governance and efficiency in the distribution of welfare assistance to varsity students, says Datuk Seri Dr Noraini Ahmad (pic).
The Higher Education Minister said she would head the Malaysian Family Student Subsistence Action Committee while the implementation committee at the institutional level would be chaired by higher education institutions' (HEI) respective vice-chancellors, rectors and directors.
“The first meeting was held on July 12 and was attended by the ministry’s top management, public universities’ vice-chancellors and representatives, private HEI associations chairmen and representatives, presidents and representatives of the National Student Consultative Council.
“Seven decisions were agreed to during the meeting, including six months of rental exemptions for cafeteria operators and food service providers at public university campuses, and the Malaysian Family Students’ Food Basket initiative where the Malaysian Family Menu worth RM3.50 under the initiative must be appropriate and take into account the diversity of HEIs racial composition.
“To monitor the increase in prices of goods and services which involves students living in HEIs, a KPT Monitoring Team - Student Living Cost will carry out continuous monitoring,” she said in a statement on Thursday (July 14).
The other decisions that were made during the meeting, Noraini said, include strengthening the Student Food Bank initiative, coordinating the wage rates for the Job on Campus programme at the HEI level, developing a Student Subsistence Action Plan, granting rebates or tax exemptions to contributors who channel sponsorship in various forms, and more frequent transport schedules.
