Reduce varsity fees, forget debit card, says Anis

Student activist Anis Syafiqah says reducing the burden of parents, students who have to settle high fees should have been Putrajaya's main priority.

PETALING JAYA: The government should have addressed the costly public university fees instead of introducing a student debit card worth RM250, a student activist said.

Anis Syafiqah Md Yusof, who made headlines after organising the #TangkapM01 rally in August, told FMT that the university fees was a financial burden for both students and parents.

“High university fees which are not standardised is our main concern and not the replacement of the book vouchers.”

Earlier today, Prime Minister Najib Razak had announced in his Budget 2017 speech that the government would introduce a debit card to enable students to purchase books and computer accessories, among other things. The debit card would replace the book vouchers given in previous years.

Najib explained this was to help students in higher learning institutions. The debit card is expected to be issued to 1.3 million students.

Anis, who is a Universiti Malaya student, also said it would be better for the government to standardise university fees, which currently varied depending on the institution.

“After all, the government has increased the budget to RM7.4 billion for 20 universities next year from the RM7.3 billion set aside this year.”