KUALA LUMPUR: The current moratorium on new medical programmes is being reviewed, said Deputy Education Minister P Kamalanathan.

Kamalanathan said the matter would be decided in the next month or so.

"The ministry is reviewing the issue thoroughly and we will bring it up to Cabinet by February," he said after officiating the Star Education Fair 2015 here on Saturday.

The moratorium is set to end this year.

In 2011, the (then) Higher Education Ministry announced a five-year freeze on new medical programmes in response to a glut in trainee doctors.

Earlier in his speech, Kamalanathan said parents and students should explore education options beyond traditionally popular fields such as medicine and law.

"Sometimes parents are stricter than the Malaysian Qualifications Agency - they only recognise these four fields (medicine, engineering, law and accounting).

"Other countries have a similar issue (of demand); at the National University of Singapore, there are only 300 seats for medicine, with 3,000 students applying for those places.

Kamalanathan added that exhibitions like the Star Education Fair help show that there are more education options available.

The Star Education Fair is being held on Saturday and Sunday from 11am to 7pm at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre.

Aside from hosting over 140 local and foreign exhibitors, the fair also features informative talks on financing higher education as well as various career paths by industry experts.

source:The Star