PUTRAJAYA: The Cabinet was informed today about several issues surrounding the parallel pathway programme, including the views provided by the Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC).
In a press conference, Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil said that this included several amendments to certain legislation to resolve the issue.
He said that the proposal for any legislation amendment, however, would only be brought to the attention of the Cabinet next week.
"AGC has given several legal views and the Cabinet has been informed that some amendments to the existing legislation are needed.
"However, nothing has been decided yet over the matter and the paper (on the proposal) will only be presented next week," he said.
Asked about the specific legislation amendment, Fahmi said nothing had been decided yet.
On Monday, Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir said there was an urgent need for problems surrounding the parallel pathway programme to be quickly resolved as the people needed the services of medical specialists.
Zambry said to do so, the government was looking at holistic solutions, including amending the Medical Act 1971.
He said he had conducted discussions with the Health Ministry and also consulted the AGC for advice.
Meanwhile, Fahmi also said the issue had nothing to do with the enrollment of non-Bumiputera into Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM), which is the only university believed to offer the parallel pathway programme in the country.
"There is a bit of misunderstanding among the general public as it was previously mentioned that there is an agreement, (but) not for educational purposes, just for housemanship in UiTM hospital.
"Several parties at UiTM, like the former VC, have also been given explanations over the matter.
"The parallel pathway (issues) also refers to the overlapping matters between the Malaysian Qualifications Agency (MQA) and the Malaysian Medical Council (MMC) so this will also be discussed next week."
Previously, there were calls made by several quarters, including the Malaysian Medical Association (MMA), for UiTM to open its cardiothoracic surgery postgraduate programme to non-Bumiputera trainees due to the shortage of specialists in the field.
The proposal, however, was opposed by the UiTM student's council and several quarters who stressed that the university was established to protect the interests of Malay and Bumiputera students.