DAP repeats call for role of
National Professors
Council to be assessed
Party vice-chairman Teresa Kok reiterates call following suggestions that the council be placed under the higher education ministry.
The party’s vice-chairman, Teresa Kok, said MPN is currently parked under the Prime Minister’s Department (JPM), with no minister overseeing the council’s operations.
“That’s why we asked the government to review MPN’s role.
“If the government thinks that such an organisation is beneficial, it has to be put under a relevant ministry, in this case, the higher education ministry,” she told FMT after launching a smart home security product here.
Kok was asked to comment on the call by PAC chairman Mas Ermieyati Samsudin yesterday that MPN be placed under the higher education ministry if Putrajaya was keen on retaining it.
Previously, there were calls for the total disbandment of MPN, including from PKR MP Jimmy Puah and the Malaysian Academic Movement.
The recommendation by Mas Ermieyati was made after PAC raised concerns about the council’s effectiveness, as highlighted in the Auditor-General’s Report 2/2024.
She said that since Nov 8, 2021, the JPM had failed to fully monitor the council, leading to irregularities in its management.
In July, Kok’s fellow party colleague, Kluang MP Wong Shu Qi, had called on the government to assess MPN’s status and look at the feasibility of placing it under the higher education ministry.
Kok disagrees with MPN fellow
Separately, Kok disagreed with the argument that placing MPN under a ministry would reduce its role as an independent body, as suggested by a fellow in the council.
The Seputeh MP argued that MPN had been parked under JPM all this while. If it was receiving government funds every year, “then it is not completely independent”, Kok said.
“It has to be parked someplace where it can be seen by the ministry, otherwise it’s not justifiable,” she said.
Yesterday, MPN fellow Azmi Hassan told FMT that the proposal to place the council under the higher education ministry would reduce its role as an independent body.
“There’s no need for the higher education ministry to take over because although MPN is an independent thinking body and receives funds from the government, its concept as an independent body still remains.”
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