NUTP welcomes the recent announcement by the Minister of Education Datuk Hishammudin that the Textbook Loan Scheme may be extended to all students under the Ninth Malaysia Plan. NUTP has sent in a proposal urging the Government to provide free text books on loan to all school children. At present the policy is to provide textbooks only to those who come from the lower income group based on the monthly salaries of their parents. NUTP's proposal was based on complaints of false claims, abuses in the allocation of books and the exception of providing free books on loan fully only to one category of medium schools. NUTP hopes that the proposal will be implemented as soon as possible.
The Education Ministry's Textbook Loan Scheme may be extended to all
students under the Ninth Malaysia Plan, Berita Harian reported.
Minister Datuk Hishammuddin Tun Hussein said the move was being
considered to ensure that not only students from lower-income families
could subscribe to the scheme.
NUTP against textbook rental scheme
THE National Union of the Teaching Profession has come out stroughly against a proposal to change the textbook loan scheme into a rental programme, as it will be a burden to the parents, reported Sin Chew Daily.
The daily quoted NUTP secretary-general Lok Yim Pheng as saying that the existing system, which stated that parents must compensate should the books be damaged or lost, was enough to ensure that the students would take care of the books.
"The students will not be entitled to the scheme in the future if the parents do not pay for the damage or loss of the books and we think this condition is enough," she said.
She pointed out that those who are in the scheme are from low-income families and a rental fee will be burdensome.
She was commenting on the suggestion by the West Malaysia Malay Teachers Association that the Education Ministry should charge the students RM30 per year for borrowing the books.
MALAYSIA TO STUDY HIGHER EDUCATION POLICY
It is reported that around 70,000 graduates in Malaysia arc unemployed. In the wake of this, NUTP's call to review and modify the Higher Education Policy of the country has been agreed to by the government.
In a press statement in the STAR-18 Jan 2005, it was announced that former Education Director General Tan Sri Wan Zahid Noordin will head a committee to draft a new National Higher Education Policy and to study if there is a need for a seperate Act to cover the field. The announcement was made by Dr. Shafie Mohd Salleh who said that the committee was expected to take six months to come up with the draft.
NUTP welcomes this positive move to up-grade and revamp the higher education policy to enable Malaysia to produce adequate, relevant and qualified graduates according to the needs of the country. NUTP has also suggested a revamp of the entire Educational System at all levels to provide the necessary education to prepare the students to fill the manpower needs of the present and future in the country.
