Students not banned from opposition programmes - deputy minister

Public higher education institutions are not prohibited from participating in programmes organised by opposition-led state governments, said Mohammad Yusof Apdal.

The deputy higher education minister said his ministry always welcomed programmes that empower and add value to university students, but they must abide by the rules.

“As far as I know, we have never imposed such a ban.

“If students want to participate, they have to abide by the rules and ask for permission,” Yusof (above) told reporters after opening the community colleges’ commemoration ceremony today.

He was commenting on a statement by Kedah state executive councillor (industry and investment, higher education, science, technology, and innovation) Haim Hilman Abdullah.

Haim sought clarification from the Higher Education Ministry over an alleged ban on public higher education institutions from participating in programmes organised by the Kedah government recently.

Meanwhile, Yusof said his ministry is committed to strengthening community colleges across the country so that these institutions are truly able to empower the local community.

To strengthen technical and vocational education, the ministry introduced a micro-credit programme in three community colleges in Pasir Gudang, Segamat, and Bandar Penawar in Johor Bahru as a pilot project.

The programme will be expanded to other community colleges including in Sabah and Sarawak, he said.

Meanwhile, he said the ministry will investigate an allegation related to the “zero-balance policy” that was making its rounds on social media yesterday.

The policy requires every student to first pay the semester fee before being allowed to enrol in a subject at a local public university.

- Bernama