MANCHESTER, March 19 ― Majlis Amanah Rakyat (MARA) will postpone sending students overseas due to the current Covid-19 pandemic.
Commenting on Malaysian students currently overseas, Deputy Director-General (Management Services) Rohayah Mohd Zain said MARA would give full cooperation to all Malaysian local authorities, government agencies, health departments, universities, embassies, consulates and high commissioners.
“We will also also comply with any directive issued by Malaysian consulates in countries where there are MARA-sponsored students,” she said in an email reply.
Under the 2020 Malaysian Budget, the government has allocated RM1.3 billion for educational institutions under MARA and RM2 billion to finance loans for 50,000 students.
As of March 2020, there are 2,932 MARA-sponsored students overseas, with the highest number being 902 in the United Kingdom, followed by Australia (372), India (312), Germany (246), Ireland (225) and the United States (222).
Meanwhile, MARA has announced that study, lecture and industrial training sessions at all its educational iInstitutions nationwide will be temporarily halted and streamlined at a later date or be carried out online.
These institutions include Maktab Rendah Sain Mara (MRSM), Universiti Kuala Lumpur, Kolej Poly-Tech MARA, GIATMARA, Kolej Kemahiran Tinggi MARA, Institut Kemahiran MARA, Kolej Professional MARA, Kolej MARA, German-Malaysian Institute, Kolej Universiti Poly-Tech MARA and Malaysia-Japan Industrial Institute.
Matters concerning payment, application and queries can be made online via www.mara.gov.my, MARA call centre at 03-2613 2000 or official MARA social media. ― Bernama
