The government has announced the expansion of its FLYsiswa initiative to include four new student categories. Previously exclusive to students of national public universities, it is now accessible to students of other government-linked institutions of higher learning.
According to The Sun, one of these categories involve students of the National Academy of Arts, Culture and Heritage (ASWARA). Another is the Malaysia Energy Department Training Institutions. The other two categories are more general – basically any government-linked university, and state-government-owned institutions of higher learning.
Under the FLYsiswa initiative, each eligible student is entitled to a RM400 subsidy to their flights between Peninsular and East Malaysia. Provided of course that their original state of residence is in one, and their university is located in the other.
Transport Minister Anthony Loke says “the expansion of this initiative is expected to benefit an additional 6,278 students”. He also said that if additional funding becomes available, the ministry intends to expand the eligible categories each year.
On that note, the ministry did also previously say it is considering extending the flight vouchers to private university students. Beyond funding, another challenge is that “IPTS have no central registry to verify enrolment”, and the sector “includes a wide variety of universities, colleges and academies”. Combined, they make it “difficult to define and verify eligible students … which makes expansion challenging”.
(Source: The Sun)
