Funding to several major public universities was slashed to the lowest since Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak came to power, according to Budget 2017 which he tabled in Parliament yesterday.

Among them are Universiti Malaya (UM), Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) and Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM).

Based on the Federal Expenditure Estimate, UM's total allocation - operations and development expenditures - will be slashed by almost one-third, 28.5 percent.

This puts its funding at RM378.0 million under Budget 2017 compared to RM528.9 million in Budget 2016.

Likewise, both USM and UKM will see their budget cut by 32 percent, from RM584.6 million to RM397.9 million and RM523.3 million to RM356 million respectively.

Meanwhile, UPM's allocation will be cut from RM579.8 million to RM466.9 million while UTM's funding will be reduced from RM580.6 to RM381.5 million.

 

Under the 2017 Budget, the Higher Education Ministry is to be allocated RM12.1 billion, of which RM7.1 billion (excluding development expenditure) is earmarked for universities and teaching hospitals.

In comparison, the ministry was allocated RM13.4 billion under the Budget 2016, and RM15.8 billion under the Budget 2015.

Universities and teaching hospitals were allocated RM8.8 billion for Budget 2016, and RM9.9 billion for Budget 2015. This figure includes one-off expenses and funding for policy changes, and will be at its second lowest level since Najib’s first budget in 2010.

The cuts mean many public universities will see a fall in government funding, even as the number of enrolments in many of these higher education institutions are anticipated to increase or at least remain steady.

“I feel bad for public university students and faculty, budgets cut again for second year in a row,” tweeted Serdang MP Ong Kian Ming as Budget 2017 was being tabled.

However, Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) and Universiti Islam Antarabangsa (UIA) Malaysia are among the few universities that bucked the trend.

UiTM will see its allocation increase from RM2 billion to RM2.5 billion, due to a large increase in its development expenditure that off set a cut in its operating expenditure.

UIA also goes against the trend with its allocations increase from RM506 million to RM754 million, again owing to a boost to its development expenditure.