KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 14): Cuts in federal funding for public universities under Budget 2016 will be felt by Universiti Malaya students in the form of Internet quotas and extra charges for WiFi use on campus, say student groups from the institution.

Universiti Malaya Association Youth (Umany) and Persatuan Mahasiswa Islam UM (PMIUM) said UM would limit access to WiFi on campus to 5GB from March, compared to the current unlimited quota.

"Based on information received, every student will only be given a 5GB quota and students will be charged for extra usage," Umany chairman Ho Chi Yang told reporters at a press conference on the university grounds today.

"The question is, is 5GB enough for students' daily work? Almost 80% of information comes from the Internet."

Putrajaya might have promised not to increase tuition fees in the light of the slash in funding for public universities under Budget 2016, but the university management would be increasing other fees, Ho added.

"Students are already affected by the cost of living and the impact of this plan will definitely burden us."

PMIUM representative Suhail Wan Azahar said based on their own survey among 1,000 UM students, 70% of respondents were against the idea.

Representatives from both student groups will seek a dialogue with UM's Information Technology Centre tomorrow.

The national budget allocated RM13.378 billion for higher education next year, a drop of RM2.4 billion from last year's budget. The new allocation is 5% of the total budget for 2016.

UM will only receive RM463 million next year, following a slash by 27.3% or RM175 million.

Other public universities that will see cuts of more than 20% in government funding are Sultan Idris Education University, Universiti Teknologi Mara and Universiti Malaysia Terengganu.

The budgets of another 11 public universities will be reduced between 10% and 20%.

The Malaysian Insider is attempting to get a response from the UM management.