Khaled said 252,188 IPTA students have been involved in various forms of voter education programmes. — Bernama photo
KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 23): The Ministry of Higher Education (MoHE) will not block political activism among students and higher education institutions are asked to cooperate and support such freedom, said Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin.
The Minister of Higher Education also the repeal of Section 15(2)(c) in the Universities and University Colleges Act 1971 (UUCA) and Section 10(2)(c) in the Educational Institutions Act in 2019 allows students of higher education institutions to engage in political parties on and off campus, including contesting as an election candidate.
According to Khaled, up until now, a total of 252,188 IPTA students have been involved in various forms of voter education programmes.
He also said the Technical and Vocational Training (Tvet) programme should be a stream of higher education that prioritises world-leading technology and is able to prepare students for industry demands.
“Tvet programmes in the education sector are being re-adjusted so that there is more emphasis on what is called High Tech, High Art, and High Touch.
“Data shows that 93.7 per cent of Polytechnic graduates in 2021 successfully joined the workforce,” commented Khaled.
He said the fees charged for the polytechnic programs as the leading provider of the TVET program was only as much as RM200 per semester, while the actual fee per semester was about RM1,850 for the certificate and RM2,100 for the diploma and bachelor’s degree.
“In this regard, the government has already given subsidies of up to 90 per cent,” he added.
He said there are requests from 12 members of parliament to establish polytechnics, community colleges, study faculties, or universities in their respective areas.
Commenting on this matter, Khaled said, “KPT cannot commit to the opening of a higher education institution in an area without in-depth research into the various spectrum of needs.”
Among the things that will be examined is the current demand which should include the needs from the perspective of students and the current society which must be balanced with the size of the population, the adequacy and readiness of the supply of expert energy in a certain field, providing and implementing infrastructure well, and financial management.