The Higher Education Ministry needs to play a more important role in the parallel pathway issue as it is becoming increasingly worse, said the Galen Centre for Health and Social Policy (Galen Centre).
The NGO’s chief executive Azrul Mohd Khalib said this is because the ministry’s role is important as the issue involves educational institutions.
“The importance of the Health Ministry and Higher Education Ministry are roughly the same, but the more important role in this issue goes to the Higher Education Ministry.
“This is because it involves education and if we look at the core of the issue, it’s not about the content being taught, quality of education and so on.
"We are talking about who is responsible for providing this education, so it is the Higher Education Ministry’s responsibility,” Azrul (above) told reporters after the Great Parallel Pathway debate session at the Asian International Arbitration Centre in Kuala Lumpur today.
On April 25, health news portal Codeblue reported Raja Amin Raja Mokhtar, a board member of the UiTM-IJN (National Heart Institute) cardiothoracic surgery postgraduate programme, saying the varsity is agreeable to opening the course to non-bumiputera.
UiTM is the only varsity that offers a parallel pathway programme in collaboration with IJN in the cardiothoracic field, which comprises surgery and care for heart and lung diseases.
Despite this, Higher Education Minister Zambry Abdul Kadir said there had been no discussions on allowing the entry of non-bumiputera and that the issue had been turned into a point of contention.
UiTM students later protested the inclusion of non-bumiputera students, which Umno Youth chief Dr Muhamad Akmal Saleh defended.
The need for experts
Meanwhile, Azrul identified the need for all stakeholders to discuss the issue for its resolution.
Relevant parties such as the Malaysian Qualifications Agency (MQA), the Malaysian Medical Council (MMC) and the Health Ministry must be included, he added.
"Everything needs to focus on the need for experts in Malaysia and not that UiTM needs to cancel or close existing programmes. That is not constructive," he said.
Earlier, the Federation of Peninsular Malay Students (GPMS) urged the Health Ministry to resolve the worsening parallel pathway issue.
Its deputy president Ahmad Thibri Mashri reportedly said that the issue has continued to drag on up until UiTM has been yanked into the controversy.
Dragging UiTM into the issue will not solve it, especially for graduates involved in specialised advanced degree programmes that are not recognised by the MMC, he said.
This issue arose after four graduates who earned a Fellowship of the Royal Colleges of Surgeons Edinburgh (FRSC Ed) qualification for cardiothoracic surgery were told they could not register as specialists and practise the speciality here because the MMC does not recognise the qualification.
The Malaysian Medical Association previously said UiTM should allow the entry of non-bumiputera seeking specialised training in the cardiothoracic field, given that international students can enrol in the university.
UiTM vice-chancellor Shahrin Sahib said the varsity is committed to upholding the UiTM Act 1976 (Act 173) and Article 153 of the Federal Constitution, which only allows the enrolment of bumiputera students.
However, UiTM will accept whatever the government decides with the blessing of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong if the matter arises due to national need, he added.
Malaysia is facing a shortage of medical specialists, including cardiothoracic surgeons.
Three Health Ministry centres in Kota Bharu, Kuantan, and Kota Kinabalu have only one cardiothoracic surgeon each. - Mkini
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