Zambry: Don't turn UiTM issue into a polemic

The debate on whether Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) will allow non-bumiputera students to enrol in its cardiothoracic surgery postgraduate programme has turned into a polemic.

Higher Education Minister Zambry Abdul Kadir today said that certain parties have intentionally weaponised the issue to undermine the purpose of UiTM’s formation.

“This issue was deliberately turned into a polemic and played on by certain parties who tried to undermine the policies and the original objectives of UiTM’s establishment, at the same time causing confusion and disputes among various parties,” he said in a statement.

The Umno senator reiterated that no discussions had been held yet on the matter, whether at the ministry or cabinet levels.

“The Higher Education Ministry firmly adheres to Clause 1A of Act 173 - UiTM was established pursuant to and in accordance with the provisions of Article 153 of the Federal Constitution,” he said.

No discussions to date

On May 2, Zambry said there have been no discussions of the issue yet, adding that several pertinent issues needed to be addressed before the idea could be considered.

Earlier on April 25, health website Codeblue reported Raja Amin Raja Mokhtar, who is on the board of studies of the UiTM-IJN (National Heart Institute) cardiothoracic surgery postgraduate programme, as saying that the varsity is agreeable to opening up the course of study to non-bumiputera parallel pathway trainees and graduates.

This is because the UiTM-IJN programme is the only one of its specialism offered locally, he added.

He said the decision was made after speaking to UiTM’s vice-chancellor and the chairperson of the UiTM board, and they agreed to the idea for a limited period.

The faculty had received a request from the Health Ministry and the Higher Education Ministry to devise a solution due to the country’s shortage of medical specialists including cardiothoracic surgeons.

This was after four graduates who earned a Fellowship of the Royal Colleges of Surgeons Edinburgh (FRSC Ed) qualification for cardiothoracic surgery were told they could not register as specialists and practise the specialism here because the Malaysian Medical Council (MMC) does not recognise the qualification.

The graduates, who are employed in the Health Ministry and IJN, have since sought leave for a judicial review on the matter.

Currently, three Health Ministry centres in Kota Bharu, Kuantan and Kota Kinabalu have only one cardiothoracic surgeon respectively.

Tomorrow, UiTM students will be protesting the proposal to allow non-bumiputera students to enrol in its cardiothoracic surgery postgraduate programme.

The university student representative council encouraged students to upload photos of their attire with the #MahasiswaUiTMBantah hashtag on social media, to support the online campaign launched yesterday.

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