KUALA LUMPUR, July 16 — A total of 386,142 students of public universities in the country will benefit from the RM185.7 million fee reduction initiative implemented by the government to help those affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE), in a statement, said the reduction of between 10 and 35 per cent was given following a circular issued by the Higher Education Department (JPT), dated March 22, to public universities (UA).

"The fee discount covers for service, hostel, convocation and college activities for Malaysian students in the second semester of the 2019/2020 academic session and will be extended to Malaysian students in semester two of the 2020/2021 academic session.

"The fee reduction for the second semester of the 2019/2020 academic session involves an allocation of RM75 million, of which RM20 million is an additional government allocation and RM55 million using UA’s internal resources,” it said.

MOHE said the fee reduction for the first semester of the 2020/2021 academic session would involve RM70.2 million and RM40.5 million for the second session of the 2020/2021 academic year.

The move by MOHE, it said reflected the government’s concern in addressing the financial burden facing students and parents. — Bernama