KUALA NERUS, Dec 10 — The Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE) should consider the involvement of students in sports and cocurricular activities as part of the qualification for places in public universities.

Deputy Minister of Youth and Sports Datuk M Saravanan said the ministry should not only focus on academic because sports also promise good income for the athletes.

""University students should choose sports as one of the cocurricular activities because sports can empower the economy.

"We have seen how our athletes brought glory to the nation in the SEA Games on the back of strong financial support,” he said when opening the National Tamil Debate competition at Universiti Malaysia Terengganu (UMT), here today.

The success of several disabled athletes at an international games recently should be seen as a yardstick and prove that sports can bring substantial rewards.

UMT’s speakers won the top two  prizes of RM3,000 and RM2,000 respectively while Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM) speakers won third place and took home RM1,000. — Bernama