Govt aid extended to post-grads in private institutions - The Star

June 23, 2009 By FOONG PEK YEE

KUALA LUMPUR: Those doing Masters and Phd in all the 24 local private institutions of higher learning can now apply for Government financial aid from this month.

However, there are conditions.

An applicant must be unemployed, retrenched, without regular income or a fresh graduate.

Those doing Masters programmes will get RM10,000 and those doing PhD progammes will get RM20,000 respectively.

Prior to this, only the country’s 20 public institutions of higher learning and three local private institutions of higher learning were qualified for the aid.

The aid, part of the second economic stimulus package announced by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak in March, would be opened to those who are below 45 (during the time of application) from now, compared to age 35 for applicants for Masters programme and 43 for PhD applicants.

Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Norden, in a written reply to a question from Tan Sri Ong Ka Ting (BN Kulai), as to whether the Government would extend the aid to local institutions like Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman, said the applicants would also need to have a CGPA2.50 now instead of CGPA2.75 initially.

There are 10,000 places for Masters and 500 for PhD. At the Parliament lobby, Deputy Higher Education Minister Dr Hou Kok Chung said 3,377 applications for Masters and 225 for PhD had been approved until this month.