PUTRAJAYA: The MyBrain15 programme was suspended because of insufficient funding.
Education Minister Dr Maszlee Malik said his ministry had not received allocation for the programme from the Economic Planning Unit (EPU) and the Finance Ministry.
“The Education Ministry wants everybody to pursue their studies, but we have not received money to carry out the MyBrain15 programme,” he said at the launch of the Annual Report 2017: Malaysia Education Blueprint 2013-2025.
“Perhaps other more important areas have been given a higher priority.
“However, the ministry and I are committed to resolving this issue.
“We will keep in touch with the Finance Ministry and EPU for updates on allocations, but the decision lies with them.”
He said the RM90 million allocated by the previous government fell far short of the RM612 million needed to fund some 10,000 graduate students.
During an interview with RTM on July 25, Maszlee said MyBrain15 had to be put on hold due to huge debts left by the previous government.
The 2018 Budget tabled last October had allocated RM90 million for graduate students to pursue Master’s and Doctoral programmes under MyBrain15.
On the need to rewrite History textbooks, Maszlee said decisions could only be made after the experts were consulted.