PRESENT POINT POWER

Higher Education Minister Datuk Mustapa Mohamed"Education is our highest priority and we have set aside money to enable young Malaysians to get quality education at the highest level,"

With the realization that there are only 30% of Malaysian lecturers with PhD qualifications and the need to shore up the falling standards in many local public universities, the Higher Education Minister Datuk Mustapa Mohamed has announced efforts to send more young lecturers and qualified undergraduates for post-graduate studies.

It is hope the “crème de la crème” are selected to pursue higher studies in their respective disciplines and in line with the Minister’s call to have more non-Malay academic staff, more non-Malays interested in a bond to do lecturing would be selected to correct the imbalance.

Boosting up the percentage of staff with PhDs would not necessary translate to better standards if the student “raw materials” are not suitable

The allowance increases is timely if it has not been adjusted for sometime otherwise "give them an inch, they will demand a foot". When it comes to free handouts, the more is merrier for sure.

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7,000 Malaysians Set For PhD Degrees; September 10, 2006 15:44 PM

By Neville D'Cruz

MELBOURNE, Sept 10 (Bernama) -- The Malaysian government will select about 7,000 young lecturers and post-graduate students for PhD studies both in Malaysia and overseas, Higher Education Minister Datuk Mustapa Mohamed said here.

Of this, a little more than half will study in Malaysia and the rest overseas, with Australia set to get a large proportion of the students.

Mustapa, who is on a 11-day working visit to Auckland, Christchurch, Wellington, Melbourne, Sydney and Perth, told large gatherings of Malaysian students in these cities that the government was giving education the highest priority as the country progressed toward 2020.

He said that having worked closely with Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi on economic programmes, he understood the prime minister's vision for Malaysia and to achieve it, Malaysia needed a highly-qualified, efficient workforce.

"Education is our highest priority and we have set aside money to enable young Malaysians to get quality education at the highest level," he said.

Mustapa said that currently about 30 per cent of lecturers in Malaysian universities had PhD degrees. His aim was to raise it to 60 per cent.

Mustapa had discussions with the University of Melbourne, his alma mater, and other Australian universities for a PhD programme where students would complete part of the degree in Malaysia and part in Australia.

"Melbourne is the centre of excellence and it is one of the greatest cities in the world.

"The quality of education in Melbourne is about the highest in the world. The environment is nice and the people are nice," he said.

In Melbourne, more than 230 Malaysian students turned up to hear Mustapa speak. He said it was the biggest gathering of Malaysian students in the world to attend a meeting with him and this pleased him a lot.

The minister has held discussions with academics at many Australian universities during this visit and was encouraged by their response about helping Malaysia obtain first-class graduates.

Mustapa also announced that he would be establishing a Malaysian Student Department in Melbourne next year.

He said that of the 15,000 Malaysians in Australian universities, 6,000 were in Melbourne, including 40 PhD candidates at the University of Melbourne.

There were also 29,000 Malaysians in secondary and private schools in Australia as well 40,000 doing off-shore Australian courses in Malaysia.

Emphasising the importance of education and the opportunities available in the higher learning sector, Mustapa said outstanding lecturers would be fast-tracked to higher positions, including professorships.

He said lecturers planning to retire at age 56 would be encouraged to continue teaching.

"Being in charge of youth and being involved in higher education is very exciting. There are challenges ahead and I'm looking forward to making a contribution towards Malaysia becoming a developed country," Mustapa added.

Big Cash Boost For Malaysian Students; September 10, 2006 12:24 PM

By Neville D'Cruz

MELBOURNE, Sept 10 (Bernama) -- Malaysian government-sponsored students in Australia and New Zealand will get up to 100 per cent increases in their scholarship rates from next February.

This was announced by visiting Higher Education Minister Datuk Mustapa Mohamed to wild cheers from hundreds of students at meetings in Auckland, Christchurch, Wellington, Melbourne and Sydney. He will be in Perth Monday and Tuesday.

Mustapa said the revised Public Service Department rates was to keep up with the rising cost of living in Australia and New Zealand, highlighted by strong representation from scholarship holders.

There will be two categories of payment.

Rate A will cater for students in Wellington, Auckland, Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Canberra and Brisbane and

Rate B, for students in other cities in Australia and New Zealand.

In New Zealand, Rate A pre-university students will have their rates increased from NZ$644 a month to NZ$1145, undergraduates from NZ$720 to NZ$1,260 and post-graduate from NZ$775 to NZ$1,449.

In Australia, the Rate A increases will go from A$637 to A$1,091 a month for pre-university students, undergraduates from A$637 to A$1,200 and post-graduates from A$680 to A$1,380.

The Rate B scholarship rates in New Zealand will rise from NZ$644 to NZ$942 for pre-university students, undergraduates from NZ$720 to NZ$1,037 and post-graduate from NZ$775 to NZ$1,193.

Pre-university students in Australia will get A$891 from A$532 previously, undergraduates from A$532 to A$980 and post-graduates from A$568 to A$1,127.

Additionally, post-graduate students with dependants will get increases in family and housing allowances.

"This is wonderful news," said Rizalawati Ismail, a PhD candidate at the University of Melbourne.

"Students from less-well-to-do families really struggle to make ends meet. Everything is very expensive here. We eat cheap food and work part-time to pay bills," she said.

Rizalawati, who comes from Kota Baharu in Kelantan, said that with the extra money, students would be able to focus more on their studies because they need not work part-time anymore.
Government sponsored students