Lee (fourth left) presents an Excellent Education Award to a student.
MIRI (Jan 14): The management of seven secondary schools in the Senadin constituency has been urged to assist students from low-income family background in applying for motorcycle licences under the MyLesen Driving Licences Assistance Programme (BLM).
Transport Minister Dato Sri Lee Kim Shin said these schols had been selected to implement the programme’s pilot project, which commenced this month.
“This programme aims to support high school students from low-income families who wish to obtain motorcycle licences at a subsidised price.
“The eligible students aged 16-19 will only need to pay RM250 for a B2 class licence instead of the usual fee of RM700,” he said when officiating the SMK Pujut’s Form Five Graduation Ceremony at a hotel here today.
The Senadin assemblyman hopes parents will support the programme to solve the problem of students being unable to own a motorcycle licence due to the high fee.
He added the programme is also a way to ensure the student’s safety on the road and prevent them from being arrested for not possessing a licence during roadblocks.
On tertiary study, Lee said the Sarawak government intends to provide free higher education to the children of Sarawak by 2026 to meet the demand for skilled experts in various fields and advance Sarawak towards becoming a high-income region.
“The state government under the leadership of Sarawak Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg is giving serious attention to the development of education in the region. Recently, he announced the Sarawak government will provide free higher education to Sarawakian children who successfully enter any of the five universities and colleges owned by the Sarawak government from 2026 onwards.”
The five universities and colleges are the Swinburne University of Technology Sarawak, Curtin University Malaysia, Universiti Teknologi Sarawak, i-CATS University College, and Laila Taib College.
He added the initiative was made due to Sarawak’s desire to produce more talent and expertise of Sarawakian children in various fields and advance the state towards achieving high-income status.
Therefore, he urged students pursuing higher education to consider the fields in high demand in Sarawak.
“We can all see the Sarawak government has diversified its sources of income and is not reliant on the usual revenue. Now, it is focusing a lot on developing the digital and green economy in terms of renewable energy, and we can see there will be new opportunities for students to prepare themselves for collaboration with the Sarawak government to advance these new fields,” he said.
During the same function, Lee announced the Sarawak government through the Premier had approved an allocation of RM1.8 million to build a parking lot for parents and a new route at SMK Pujut and SK Senadin to address traffic congestion.
Also present was SMK Pujut’s principal Su Yien Jiong.
