KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 29 — The Higher Education Ministry (MOHE) has described the 2018 Budget tabled by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak on Friday as a ‘Soaring Upwards’ budget, following the 13.15 per cent increase in allocation for the ministry.

In a statement yesterday, MOHE said the increase in allocation from RM12.28 billion to RM13.89 billion reflected the government’s concern for development of higher education in the country,  which is seen to be improving in terms of achievement at international level through the QS World University Rankings.

"The MOHE is grateful for the scholarship provision of RM900 million through the MyBrain15 programme which will benefit 10,600 undergraduates and doctoral students, as well as the  implementation of in-house Master’s and PhD courses to ensure lifelong learning among officers in the public service.

"The allocation for research, development and commercialisation (RDC) that will drive the country’s economy towards Industrial Revolution 4.0 is  almost doubled to RM400 million from RM235 million in 2017,” the statement said.

It said MOHE would continue to be committed in increasing the intake of Indian students  into public higher education institutions (IPTAs) to seven per cent and welcomed the RM2.4 billion allocation for Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) towards increasing the number of professionals among Bumiputera.

"With the government’s support through this ‘Soaring Upwards’ budget, MOHE is committed to improving  the quality of higher education in achieving 2050 National Transformation (TN50) aspiration,” it added.

Meanwhile in SINTOK,  Deputy Higher Education Minister Datuk Dr Mary Yap Kain Ching said the 2018 budget was seen as a positive sign for development of higher education,

She said the RM400 million allocation would help boost excellence of Higher Education Institutions () in Malaysia especially in research, development and commercialisation (RDC) fields.

"This clearly shows that the government is always supportive of the national research ecosystems,” she said when met at Universi Utara Malaysia English language Carnival here. — Bernama