The Free Education Movement (GMPP) has urged Mara to drop the proposal to institute a full paying version of Mara Junior Science College (MRSM) as the plan was against the agency's core functions.
In a protest note, GPMM said Mara was established to provide education and skill training to marginalised bumiputera and its services should not be for-profit.
GMPP also expressed concern that the plan would eventually lead to further reduction in Mara's funding for education.
"MRSM was established to educate the bumiputera and Orang Asal from rural areas.
"By introducing a paid version of MRSM, placement for the poor would be at stake," GPMM central committee M Saran Raj told reporters after submitting the note at Mara's headquarters today.
The four-member GMPP delegation comprise of students from Universiti Malaya, Universiti Tenaga Nasional, Universiti Teknologi Petronas and Brickfields Asia College. Their note was received by Mara deputy chairperson Ibrahim Ahmad.
Sharan Raj said GMPP would hold demonstration in the future unless the proposal was scrapped.
"We will be following-up on this issue every week," Sharan Raj, who is also a member of Parti Sosialis Malaysia's Youth Wing, said.
Yesterday, Rural and Regional Development Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said that the proposal was still being studied.
Should the proposal be implemented, only new MRSM schools would have the full-paying scheme and therefore, placement for students from low-income backgrounds will not be affected, he said.
The minister also denied allegations that the scheme was a means of covering for an alleged RM2 billion budget cut faced by Mara.
He urged the public to provide feedback on the proposal and not resort to demonstrating.-Mkini
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