More students benefit from the Tertiary Tuition Fee Subsidy

Question

Mr Muhamad Faisal Abdul Manap: To ask the Minister for Communications and Information and Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs for academic year 2013 (a) how many students have benefited from the Tertiary Tuition Fee Subsidy (TTFS); and (b) what is the surplus amount from the non-disbursement of TTFS.

Response

Assoc Prof Dr Yaacob Ibrahim: The Tertiary Tuition Fee Subsidy (TTFS) is a subsidy for the tuition fees of Malay Students at institutes of higher learning (IHLs).The Government provides an annual grant for the TTFS which is disbursed by Yayasan MENDAKI to eligible students. The revised income criteria which took effect in Academic Year 2012/13 means that more Malay students are now eligible for the TTFS than in the past. No deserving Malay student will be denied a tertiary education because of financial difficulties.

For Academic Year 2013/14, 12,626 students benefitted from TTFS, compared to 5,973 in Academic Year 2012/13. The undisbursed TTFS amount in 2013 is $16.16 million out of the total TTFS grant of $46.91 million for Academic Year 2013/14.

Each year, any undisbursed TTFS funds are channelled to MENDAKI’s Education Development Fund (EDF) to support educational assistance schemes and other educational programmes.