Plans for gap year system in public universities
Published on: Sunday, July 31, 2016
Kuala Lumpur: The Higher Education Ministry is studying the possibility of introducing a gap year system in public universities.Its Minister, Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh, said it was looking at the system, which is widely offered at higher learning institutions abroad, to develop all-rounded students."We are exploring the system to allow students to take a gap year to pursue voluntary work, entrepreneurship, leadership or character building programmes and travel."
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Idris said the ministry embarked on the study as it wanted holistic students to prepare them for the challenging job market."The system will not burden the government as the students will not drain an institution's resources," said Idris, after winding up the undergraduates parliamentary session at the Dewan Rakyat.He said the ministry was open to the views of university students, but stressed that it should be balanced.He said their opinions had to be reasonable.
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"They should not go overboard and their views should be respectful," he said, adding that their views were the basis of education policies and initiatives, including the gap year study.Idris was responding to a statement by Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, who called on the ministry to not punish students with differing views from the government.
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