The billions of ringgit that the government spends on sending students overseas should instead be invested in public universities here, said Pandan lawmaker Rafizi Ramli.

The PKR secretary-general said this in light of the financial constraints faced by the country’s educational institutions.

“I think our scholarship system is no longer applicable. I don't see the need to send students overseas to do courses which may, in fact, be better here.

“The cost (to send students overseas) is exorbitant,” he said in his closing speech at PKR's National Students' Congress in Ampang today.