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National Higher Education Fund Corporation should reverse its unfair and discriminatory policy refusing study loans for the “high-fliers” with 9 – 11As in SPM from poor families pursuing medical studies in Crimea State Medical University in Ukraine Media Conference Statement (2) - after visiting the Perak Education Expo 2004 at Stadium Indera Mulia, Ipoh by Lim Kit Siang (Ipoh, Sunday): During our visit to the Perak Education Expo 2004, we found that there had been 80 – 90 applicants for medical studies in the Crimea State Medical University in Ukraine in the past three days. The Crimea State Medical University in Ukraine is probably the single biggest university, whether in Malaysia or in the world, with the highest concentration of Malaysian students pursuing medical studies, as there are at present some 700 Malaysian students with 500 pursuing the medical degree with another 200 doing the one-year pre-medical course.
Crimea State Medical University offers the cheapest medical course for Malaysians, including local medical faculties or colleges.
It is estimated that it will cost some RM400,000 to pursue a medical degree in Australia, RM500,000 in Canada, RM630,000 in the United Kingdom and RM700,000 in the United States.
It will cost some RM250,000 to pursue medical studies locally, such as at the Perak College of Medicine (PCM) – with annual costs broken down as follows:
Perak College of Medicine (MBBS programme under UM/PCM collaboration)
For the Crimea State Medical University, the cost of the medical course is only RM99,000 (inclusive of the one-year pre-medical course).
As the medical degree of Crimea State Medical University is recognized by the Health Ministry, and the Public Services Department, Yayasan Selangor and the Armed Forces also send students to the Ukraine university to be trained as doctors, it is most shocking that the National Higher Education Fund Corporation (Perbadanan Tabung Pendidikan Tinggi Nasional – PTPTN) had been discriminating against the Malaysian students who are “high flyers” with 9 to 11As in SPM and come from poor families by refusing to give them study loans.
This is most unfair and unjust, and I call on the Chairman of the PTPTN, Datuk Ahmad Husni Hadnazlah, to explain the reason for such a discriminatory and short-sighted policy which should be reversed immediately, to allow the Fund to give study loans to students pursuing medical studies in Crimea State Medical University in Ukraine – especially to some 120 “high-flyer” students – as the PTPTN is giving billions of ringgit as study loans to students enrolled in 18 public universities and nearly 300 private universities and colleges. I hope that Husni and the PTPTN could on its own reverse its unfair and discriminatory policy against the Malaysian students in the Crimea State Medical University by providing them with full study loans, without my having to pursue this matter with the new Education for Higher Education, Datuk Dr. Shafie Mohd. Salleh. * Lim Kit Siang, DAP National Chairman & Member of Parliament for Ipoh Timor |