PH Manifesto: What Holds the Future of Education?

Now that a new government is formed that consists of a unity government, uncertainties arise as to whether or not PH’s previous manifesto will be fully implemented. However, since PH is the ruling party that won, most of the manifestos might proceed with compromises among the other coalition parties. 

Here’s some of the 2022 manifestos for Higher Education in Malaysia, and what students have to say about it.

Abolish UUCA (AUKU)

To monitor the continuous efforts of Education Reform, priority must be given to granting autonomy for Universities & Institutes of Higher Learning. Therefore, Universities and University Colleges Act (UUCA) will be abolished and students, lecturers, and alumni will be recognised as the true stakeholders.

Farah Irdina: "I'm 50/50 on this. Although freedom of expression is great to a certain degree, misuse of it may lead to heated and uncontrollable disputes. So there needs to be certain regulations to prevent that."

Hamizah: "I agree with this proposal as I believe that students need to be encouraged to voice out their thoughts freely, since they're going to be the future leaders of the next generation."

Targeted PTPTN Loans Forgiveness 

To overcome the issue of unreasonable study loans among students including PTPTN debts, a targeted Loan Forgiveness Program for those living in poverty and students who come from B40 households will be introduced. The PTPTN repayment schedule will also be adjusted based on the income of fresh graduates beginning from RM4,000 with increasing percentages based on salary.

Farah Idrina:"This is great, as it will reduce the burden of students and they would have a bigger opportunity to make fortune before paying the debts."

Hamizah: "I definitely second this manifesto. Especially, because when then government invests educational support on students, without them needing to pay an absurdly high amount of loan, this gives them more motivation to work harder, because they acknowledge the support from their own country. In fact, these young intellectuals are going to be contributing to the development of the country in the end."

B40 Scholarships

Simultaneously, more scholarships will be introduced for the B40 group to help them reduce dependency on PTPTN loans.

(If you need to check out an extensive list of scholarship offers available in Malaysia, go to our scholarship page)

Farah Irdina: "This is a great approach. We can't deny that privilege people have the upper hand when it comes to pursuing education. Having debts itself is burdening students because they have to pay back. For those with high performance in academic should be given chance to pursue their study so that they are exposed to more opportunity to get out of B40 range.

Hamizah: "This will allow those who are eligible in terms of academic performance, but are in shortage of money to gain the opportunity in pursuing their education with ease in finance. We should really give more academic opportunities to those who deserve it, but are lacking the chance due to financial requirements."

More Admission Opportunities

Ensuring more high-achieving SPM & STPM graduates are provided the opportunity to continue their studies in IPTAs. This will ensure that the opportunities will be given to academically-inclined students who truly deserve them.

Farah Irdina: "Graduates with excellent result of SPM/STPM have shown their effort. Thus, adimission opportunity should not be limited."

Hamizah: "I support this. Since those high achieving students have shown their earnest effort in academics, there is no loss in giving ample admission opportunities to those bright students."

In regards on what students are hoping to see next in the future of higher education, these are what our interviewees have to say:

Farah Irdina: "Meaningless assignments should be reduced or cut so that students can put their effort more on their core subjects. Students need more time, so they can fully focus on their studies without worrying about homework deadlines. Class period should be shorten too. For example, instead of a 3-hour class, we can conduct 1-hour class for 3 times, which means the rest gap is long enough to recover from tiredness of previous class."

Hamizah: "In my opinion, I am hoping to see each individuals shine in the field of which they are the best fitted in. I believe that God has created every individual with different specialties and skills, hence the niches of each individuals may vary in life. Hence, I hope that the government does something that can let these young people recognize their own talents and have the freedom to pursue any course they want, by allowing more institutes of higher learning admissions and job opportunities that follow, as well as encourage pre-employment and field psychological assessments to let students better understand themselves and their interests."