Ministry sponsors 261 students to pursue degree abroad
Published on: Friday, November 28, 2014
KUALA LUMPUR: A total of 261 students have pursued their first degree programmes at prestigious universities abroad under the sponsorship of the Education Ministry from 2006 until this year.Its deputy minister Datuk Mary Yap Kain Ching said several consultations had been implemented since 2006 that recognised matriculation programmes as one of the conditions for entry qualification equivalent to A level."The ministry's management meeting in 2006 approved the proposal to expand the sending of students with excellent matriculation passes abroad under the Trainers Manpower Training Scheme Matriculation Programme for five years effective 2006.
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"Subsequently the matriculation programme received recognition from 11 prestigious universities in United Kingdom, including University of Nottingham and University of Manchester," she said when repyling to a supplementary question from Datuk Dr Abdul Latif Ahmad (BN-Mersing) at the Dewan Rakyat sitting here Thursday.She said six institutions of higher learning in Australia also recognised the matriculation programme, among them were University Of Melbourne, Monash University and University of Sydney.Meanwhile, replying to a supplementary question from Hanipah Maidin (PAS-Sepang), Yap said her ministry was checking the public and private educational centres that offered courses not recognised by the Malaysian Qualifications Agency (MQA). She said such courses must fulfilled the criterias set before MQA recognition was given.
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Hanipah wanted to know if the government took action against several public and private universities that offered courses without MQA recognition resulting in students not being able to be recruited for jobs.Meanwhile, the parole system implemented by the Prisons Department of Malaysia recorded a success rate of 98.8 per cent, much higher than those in countries such as the United States, Australia, and Canada.
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Deputy Minister of Home Affairs Datuk Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar said that since its implementation in July 2008, only 1.72 per cent, or 154 of 8,935 prisoners had their parole order revoked and sent back to prison to continue their sentences."Since it was implemented, 8,935 prisoners have been involved in the parole system with 8,475 of them having finished their parole orders, and 450 of them still undergoing it," he said when winding up the debate on the Prisons (Amendment) Bill 2014.The Bill was passed after its third reading by Wan Junaidi. It was tabled for second reading last Oct 9. The amendments, among others, is to create the posts of Deputy Commissioner General of Prisons and State Prison Directors as well as to amend the mechanism and power to implement international prisoner transfers.Wan Junaidi said the move to create the two new posts was to ensure that the administration of the Prisons Department was more efficient and systematic."Currently, only Sabah and Sarawak have directors at the state level, and with this implementation in all the other states. It will make prison administration, prison officer training centres and the parole system more smooth.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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