Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has defended Putrajaya's decision to impose a 6% service tax on international students' tuition fees to cover the rising cost of education.
Anwar also stated that the education sector has received the largest allocation in the national budget over the past two years, followed by the health sector.
Anwar explained that despite the increasingly high and extraordinary costs, the government remains committed to not burdening local students, especially those with low incomes.
The statement was made during his speech at the 'Meet Anwar' programme at Multimedia University yesterday.
He also said international students would bear a 'small burden', but stressed that their tuition fees are still considered the lowest in the region.
Malaysia is currently home to 160,000 to 170,000 international students.
