PUTRAJAYA, Oct 26 — The living allowance (ESH) for new and existing scholars sponsored by the Higher Education Ministry (MOHE) will be raised next year, its minister, Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin announced today.

He said the raise would benefit 24,729 students under the ministry’s sponsorship programme locally and abroad, and will have a financial implication of around RM30.78 million.

"The government will always focus on the welfare of sponsored scholars and seriously assist them to face rising costs of living,” he said at the launch of MyBrain 2.0 and the presentation of sponsorship letters for 2023 here today.

The living allowance will be raised by 15 per cent for new and existing doctorate scholars abroad and under the MyBrainScience programme, while new and existing students on scholarships in Malaysia will receive an additional RM100 monthly, he said, adding that it will involve recipients of the university excellent athlete scholarships, polytechnic excellent scholarships, tokoh siswah scholarships, dermasiswa B40 TVET, and MyBrain 2.0 programme.

He said the MOHE would standardise the living allowance for new and existing scholars to a single rate according to their course levels, with RM730 for bachelor’s degree, RM730 for master’s degree, and RM1,000 for doctorates, but would not involve the MyBrainScience programme as the current rate was much better than other existing programmes.

"The monthly RM100 increase in living allowance is also expanded to B40 students (public university basic financial aid and community college student financial aid) and persons with disabilities (PwD) (PwD financial aid and special education programmes),” Mohamed Khaled added.

The current living allowance for basic financial aid is RM208.33 a month, PwD financial aid (RM300 monthly), community college student financial aid (RM300 monthly) and RM610 a month for special education programme students.

For new and existing scholars in the United Kingdom, Mohamed Khaled said the rate will be standardised and no longer be based on area, while those in the United States will be standardised from three to two rates, he said, adding that the living allowance for new and existing Public Service Department scholars, both local and abroad, would be maintained.

"This is because the rising cost of living can be absorbed by officers studying locally and abroad as they are also receiving their full monthly salaries on top of the living allowance,” he added. — Bernama