PUTRAJAYA, Jan 13 — Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh today rubbished a group’s study purporting that nearly three in four local university students could not afford food, challenging it to show how it arrived at the conclusion.

He also suggested that Pertubuhan Sukarelawan Muslim Malaysia’s (MVM) survey was flawed, and urged it to publish the methodology behind the study whose results he said was controverted by information he received from the institutions of higher learning.

“It is very unlikely for the findings by MVM to suggest so, as I have spoken to public and private institutions, polytechnics and community colleges on this matter and I find that they are all committed in helping undergraduates solve any sort of financial problems,” he told a news conference.

He added that students in as much difficulty as portrayed in the survey could approach their respective student affairs departments for aid.

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According to a Sinar Harian report, MVM’s study revealed that 74 per cent or 18,675 students admitted to not having enough money for food.

The study was reportedly conducted between December 24 and 28, last year and polled 25,632 respondents in six public universities through email.

Responding further, Idris pointed that the government had allocated RM5.2 million for public universities to assist 31,776 poor students in 2015.

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“The assistance channel through the students affairs department covers zakat, general welfare, meal cards, coupons for essentials, natural disaster, hospitalisation and tuition fees.

“And these are apart from the PTPTN student loans and BR1M that government gives out,” he said, referring to the National Higher Education Fund Corporation (PTPTN).

Asked what was his advice would be for students to diverted their study loans to help their families, Idris said it was up to each individual to plan their finance wisely.

Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) deputy vice chancellor Professor Datuk Dr Mohammad Shatar Sabran, who is in charge of student affairs and alumni, said the university allowed poor students to apply for financial assistance online.

“They (students) can always apply in our portal for financial assistance and this of course must be supported with the relevant documents,” he said.

The topic of students struggling to afford food began gaining attention last week, when Malay daily Harian Metro reported that a psychology major from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia was hospitalised after her intestines were found to have ruptured due to poor eating habits, which she attributed to financial problems that left her just RM30 a week to spend on food and other necessities.

Since then, other students have emerged with similar complaints, relating how they had to stretch limited funds due to increasing living costs.

Idris on Monday gave his assurance that Putrajaya would look into the problem that seems to be faced by public university students in the country.

Separately, Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin dismissed coverage of the topic as sensationalised, expressing doubt that students would have such difficulty feeding themselves when even the homeless were given food.