Anwar believes university education should be free, but govt needs time

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said he believes tertiary education should be free for all Malaysians, except for the rich.

However, he said, the government cannot do it now due to financial constraints.

Speaking at a talk session with university students in Bangi, the prime minister asked the people to give the government more time to rationalise the country's spending by reforming its subsidy systems.

“If you ask me, my personal view, my philosophy is that education should be free right from the primary (school) up to university level, except for the rich,” he said.

Anwar was speaking at a programme called “Program Cakna Madani Perdana Menteri” with Public Services Department (PSD) scholarship students, held at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia in Bangi.

He was answering a question from the floor regarding steps taken by the government toward providing free tertiary education to all students.

According to the prime minister, the government is facing a huge national debt of RM1.3 trillion, among other problems.

Thus, he stressed, it was the reason why Putrajaya decided to cut subsidies for the rich.

“I cancelled subsidies for the rich, not for the ordinary citizens. Because to me, the rich do not need to be given subsidies.

“What is the relevance of this measure? We need to bring down the amount of subsidies (that the government is paying).

“If we can control all these, then we can translate (the money saved) to minimise costs for education as a first,” he said.

Govt doing its best to resolve doctors’ woes

Meanwhile, during the same event, Anwar also assured medical students that they need not worry about not having jobs in the country after graduation.

The prime minister believes that a surplus of doctors would not be much of a problem in the country because there is still demand for medical officers.

“In case there are no jobs for doctors, then maybe we can send you to other countries that are in need of doctors, like African countries.

“Those who are willing to work in Ghana for example, they can work there for a year, gain some experience,” he said in jest, to the amusement of the students. 

Anwar told the audience that the government is trying its best to help solve woes faced by doctors in the country, including the issue of contract doctors.

“When I took over (as the prime minister) last year, we immediately allocated funds to solve the issue of contract doctors.

“We managed to provide spots for one-third of the contract doctors, some 4,000 of them, by this year. We absorbed them (into permanent positions).

“And perhaps in three years, we will be able to solve this problem altogether,” Anwar said.

He urged doctors and medical students in the country to also understand the financial constraints faced by the government. - Mkini