KUALA LUMPUR: The Higher Education Ministry is considering expanding the National Higher Education Fund Corporation (PTPTN)'s free education initiative to underprivileged students enrolled at private higher education institutions.
Deputy Higher Education Minister Adam Adli Abd Halim said the proposal has been discussed at the ministry level to ensure eligible students at state government-owned universities, which are classified as private institutions, can also receive the Anak eKasih Scholarship.
"The Minister has stressed that we cannot ignore the fact that although state government-owned universities are categorised as private institutions, not all of their students come from high-income families.
"We will work towards a more inclusive approach. However, we must also review our fiscal position, as current expenditure is significant. That said, we will do our best to expand this initiative to eligible students at private universities in the future," he said during the oral question-and-answer session in the Dewan Negara on Tuesday (March 3).
He was responding to a supplementary question from Senator Datuk Prof Emeritus Dr Mohammad Redzuan Othman on whether the government would consider extending the initiative to students at state government-owned private institutions.
Earlier, in response to a question from Senator Norhasmimi Abdul Ghani on the monitoring mechanism to ensure PTPTN's free education initiative for 10,000 underprivileged students reaches its intended target group, Adam Adli said recipients are not allowed to receive study sponsorships simultaneously from different sponsors.
He said the requirement is to ensure government funds are distributed fairly and transparently, and that the assistance benefits students who genuinely qualify.
"Each application is cross-checked and matched against eKasih data as well as records from other major sponsoring agencies before the scholarship or free education offer is granted to those who are truly eligible," he said.
He added that screening procedures have also been tightened, and sponsorship will be terminated immediately if any recipient is found to have breached the terms or submitted false documents. – Bernama
