The billions of ringgit that the government spends on sending students overseas should instead be invested in public universities here, said Pandan lawmaker Rafizi Ramli.

The PKR secretary-general said this in light of the financial constraints faced by the country’s educational institutions.

“I think our scholarship system is no longer applicable. I don't see the need to send students overseas to do courses which may, in fact, be better here.

“The cost (to send students overseas) is exorbitant,” he said in his closing speech at PKR's National Students' Congress in Ampang today.

He said some RM2 billion to RM3 billion is spent each year to send fewer than 10,000 students overseas.

Rafizi admitted that he himself benefited from an overseas education, having completed his electrical engineering degree at the University of Leeds in the United Kingdom.

But he believed that there would be little difference if he had studied the course at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) instead.

Rafizi added it was better to send top students to local public universities, because those sent overseas may not live up to their full potential.

“When they are sent to normal universities (overseas), their capacity to contribute is limited. They may even think twice to speak to the white people, in the end they discuss things among (fellow Malaysians).

“If they are placed in local universities, they can assist in enriching a much better higher education system,” said Rafizi.

He urged for the overseas first-degree system scholarship to be scrapped, though he said an exception should be made for students who secure places at top universities in the world, or those who want to study courses not offered in Malaysia.

“If this is done, it will re-divert financial resources into the public university system,” he said.

Meanwhile, Rafizi also suggested that entry requirements into universities be tightened.

“No one said that entering university is a ticket to heaven or that one will be rich. Entering university is because you love knowledge.

“If you don't have an interest then there is no need to enter university,” he said.

He also criticised parents who compared their children's university placements with others.

“It’s wrong. You should ensure that your child does something that will make him or her a better human being.

“Some people sell cows and can be richer. The culture of (thinking that) not enrolling in university means that one is stupid, must be changed.

“Universities, society leaders have to communicate this. Parents have to understand that universities are a place where you go and learn knowledge, not to make money, not to become Donald Trump,” he said.