Higher Education Minister Noraini Ahmad said the unit or portfolio will be set up by her ministry with the cooperation of the universities and the University Housing Council of Malaysia to resolve the issue of rented houses for students.

She said this was among the 11 proposals submitted by the National Student Consultative Council to Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin in June.

“The government has agreed with the proposal and its implementation is being planned based on feasibility,” she said at Universiti Teknologi Mara’s endowment scholarship award ceremony here yesterday.

In addition, she said, the ministry had set up a student home portal to connect students with house owners and to help in looking for accommodation for them.

Noraini also said the ministry was working to increase the functionality of the student matric card through the Kad Prihatin Siswa initiative.

“We intend to increase the functions of the student matric card as a multipurpose card that doubles as a debit card and is equipped with facilities like e-wallet for cashless transactions,” she said.