‘We did not pay for Wan Saiful’s trip’

Ministry denies funding team sent to study UK school system

PUTRAJAYA: The Education Ministry has denied allegations that it had used its allocations to send a team to Britain for a study trip.

Minister Dr Maszlee Malik said a delegation, led by his special adviser Wan Saiful Wan Jan, did not receive any funds for the working trip.

“He did not go there using the ministry’s allocations,” he told reporters after a meet-and-greet session with foreign students yesterday.

Wan Saiful is also National Higher Education Fund Corporation chairman.

Photos of Wan Saiful’s trip went viral on Twitter.

Dr Maszlee was responding to a statement by Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid who questioned how a special officer was sent overseas in an official capacity to study the British schooling system.

The former education minister said during his time, only the minister, deputy or director-general was allowed to go on such trips.

Mahdzir said a Cabinet paper for all foreign trips, including getting approval for budget, needed to be presented at the weekly Cabinet meeting.

Meanwhile, Dr Maszlee welcomed more foreign students to Malaysia.

He said the presence of students from developing and developed nations showed that Malaysia was a choice study destination.

“As I told the students, experience the best Malaysia has to offer.

“We have many different races, cultures and food, and this is our advantage,” he said.

Dr Maszlee also urged foreign students to be “part of the people” despite their brief stay in the country.

Based on the latest figures, there are 174,000 foreign students enrolled in Malaysia.