Malaysia needs to produce graduates with good employment opportunities more than it needs free tertiary education, according to the president of the Universiti Malaya Association of New Youth (Umany), Tan Jia You.
“Even if we have free education, the bigger problem of unemployment may still be there as long as we do not produce graduates who meet the demands of the market,” he told FMT.
On Sunday, Pakatan Harapan chairman Dr Mahathir Mohamad said the coalition would give more scholarships instead of free higher education if it won the 14th general election (GE14).
The former prime minister questioned whether Malaysian students would value education if it was free. “I often see free food in schools thrown into the garbage bins,” he said.
He alleged that Malaysian students tended to look for easy ways out, unlike their counterparts in Germany, where education is free. German students were known for working hard, he added.
Tan said not every Malaysian would benefit from free education because many did not continue their education beyond secondary school.
He also questioned how private universities would cope financially if a free education policy were in place.
Noor Azimah Rahim, who heads the Parents Action Group for Education, said free higher education would remain a pipe dream unless Malaysians were prepared to pay significantly higher taxes.
She noted that some Germans paid as much as 45% of their incomes in taxes and that a large portion of the collection went towards education.
“In Malaysia, only a million out of the 15 million workforce pay tax, with the maximum rate being 28%,” she said.
She also said there should be two categories of scholarships converted from loans – for students from poor families and for high achievers who should be rewarded.
Educationist Zakaria Kasa of the National Professors Council agreed that free education would come at a cost to taxpayers.
He also said Malaysian students were already enjoying various kinds of financial aid.
“The government gives scholarships to deserving students and loans from the National Higher Education Fund Corporation to those who do not have scholarships,” he said.