Materia Medica Malaysiana

Mara will still sponsor 40 CSMU medical students

Mara will continue to sponsor the 40 medical students who are studying at the Crimea State Medical University (CSMU) in Ukraine, said its director-general Datuk Zamani Md Noor.
He said the students, who had been studying there since 2001, would not be affected by the Government’s recent move to withdraw recognition of the university.
“We are now looking at alternative universities in Egypt, Jordan and Syria as well as a few in New Zealand and Australia to send new students.
“Last year, we received about 3,000 loan applications to study medicine overseas but due to budget constraints, we sponsored only about 700 students under our Excellent Students Scheme.
“We hope to increase the number to 1,000 students by the end of the year. For this, we will need an allocation of about RM150mil,” he said after presenting tsunami aid worth RM15,300 to 85 students of SMK Sri Muda Penaga here yesterday.
Zamani said Mara scholarship holders were also pursuing medical courses in England, Ireland, Indonesia and India.
“We must understand that the derecognition of Crimea State Medical University is partly due to the poor safety and living conditions of our students,'' he said.
Beginning this year, studentshave to apply through Mara for entry into the universities instead of applying directly to the universities.
“SPM holders will now have to spend two years either at the Mara College in Banting or Seremban to do a diploma in International Baccalaureate programme, which is equivalent to the A-Levels examination.
“Only those who obtain a minimum 13 points in this programme, will be considered for study loan overseas,” he said.