The living allowance (Elaun Sara Hidup – ESH) for local and overseas Majlis Amanah Rakyat (MARA) sponsored students will be increased with immediate effect, Prime Minister, YAB Dato’ Sri Ismail Sabri Yaakob announced today.
For local students, the new living allowance rate has been raised from a minimum of RM650 to a maximum of RM950 per month, which will apply to all levels of education from diploma to professional and doctorate levels.
Overseas students, meanwhile, will receive the minimum rate of RM1,380 per month up to a maximum of RM7,600 depending on the level of study.
“This (increased rate) will benefit a total of 62,998 MARA-sponsored students effective September 2022.
“I believe that this allowance increase is very appropriate and will help ease the burden on ‘Keluarga Malaysia’ students due to rising living costs,” he told.
The good news was announced in front of 3,000 MARA Institute of Education (IPMa) students including from Universiti Kuala Lumpur (UniKL) and a few groups of students watching from overseas, during the Program Aspirasi Kecemerlangan Keluarga Malaysia, at the German-Malaysian Institute.
Read : KPLB to expedite review of allowance rate for MARA-sponsored students abroad
Also present were the Minister of Rural Development (KPLB), YB Dato’ Seri Mahdzir Khalid; Director General of Public Service, YBhg. Dato’ Sri Mohd Shafiq Abdullah; KPLB Deputy Minister I, YB Dato’ Sri Haji Abdul Rahman Mohamad; Secretary General of KPLB, YBhg. Dato’ Ramlan Harun; Director General of MARA, YBhg. Dato’ Azhar Abdul Manaf; Chairman of MARA Corporation Sdn. Bhd., YB Senator Dato’ Wira Othman Aziz, Group Chief Executive Officer of MARA Corporation Sdn Bhd, Dato’ Julainie Mohd Salleh and President/Chief Executive Officer of UniKL, YBhg. Datuk Dr Roziah Omar.
Dato’ Sri Ismail Sabri explained that the existing allowance rate had been in place for over 13 years and that it needed to be reviewed due to the rising cost of living in the country over the past 10 years.
The increased rate of allowance is also following a ‘Special Operation’ conducted by MARA and Public Service Department (PSD) in February this year, to review the sponsored students’ cost of living in main cities such as London, Bristol and Edinburgh.
Based on the review, it was learned that the students have to allocate 60 to 70 percent of their living allowance to pay the utility bills, the prime minister told.
Meanwhile, Minister of Rural Development (KPLB), YB Dato’ Seri Mahdzir Khalid said that as of 2022, the MARA convertible loan scheme will be able to benefit 60,000 students locally and abroad.
This involves Young Talent Development Programme (YTP), World’s Top Universities Programme (WTU), Graduate Excellent Programme (GREP), Professional Development Programme (PROP-P), IPMa Excellent Student Programme (IESP) and MARA Education Sponsorship Hybrid Programme (MESH).
