More Medical Seats at IPTAs

Medical Faculties At Varsities Able To Handle Bigger Intake Of Students

KUALA LUMPUR, June 11 (Bernama) -- The government has increased the teaching capacity at the medical faculties of all the public universities to cater to a bigger intake of students, Higher Education Minister Datuk Dr Shafie Mohd Salleh said.

He said this was to prevent a recurrence of last year's problem where 128 Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia top scorers failed to get places to study medicine locally.

Dr Shafie said basic facilities such as teaching equipment had been improved or upgraded and more lecturers had been recruited since last year.

"So far, so good. I am quite sure that what happened last year will not happen again," he told reporters after launching the Career and Education Fair 2005 here.

Last year, after a public outcry, the government awarded the top scorers Public Service Department scholarships to study medicine overseas.

Dr Shafie also said that the announcement of this year's university intake would be made before the end of the month as the new 2005/2006 session begins in July.

In another development, Shafie said he had approved the unpaid leave of University Malaya economist Assoc Prof Dr Terence Gomez who had tendered his resignation after the university did not approve his two-year secondment to take up a research post in the United Nations.

"I only saw the application yesterday and I approved it," he said when asked by reporters to comment on the matter.

Shafie said he had also rejected Gomez's resignation, which means the economist could return to the university after completing his two-year secondment in Geneva.

-- BERNAMA

Unbelieveable as it is, our MINIster of Higher Education only saw Dr Gomez's application for unpaid leave yesterday. He is probably a non-Malaysiakini reader, a non-blog reader and is deaf to what Opposition Leader, Lim Kit Siang as to say. If he intends to join "The celebration with Dr Terence Gomez", i would gladly sponsor him. The appproval may have come at the 11th hour but there is cause for celebration in GostanLand.
Did the UM VC not revealed Dr Gomez's forced resignation to him? Did they not discuss the issue prior to the VC accepting the resignation? If both the answers are 'No' then he should fire the VC.