Dr Annuar (third right) performs the launching gimmick, witnessed by Arni (third left), Les (second right) and others.
SIBU (Nov 7): Financial constraints should not be an issue that prevent qualified Bumiputera students from entering university, said Datuk Dr Annuar Rapaee.
The deputy Sarawak Education, Innovation and Talent Development minister said this, in highlighting the state government’s policy to provide free tertiary education to all Sarawakians at state-owned universities and Sarawak Skills.
In this regard, he called upon Bumiputera students to focus on their studies in order to gain a placement in the state-owned universities and technical centres.
“There will be no more financial constraints as a reason for our Bumiputera students not to pursue their studies as the only question now is whether they are eligible or qualified to enrol into our universities,” he said.
He said this in his officiating address at the Kolej Vokasional Sibu’s (KVS) excellence awards presentation ceremony today.
Adding on, he said the state government has been preparing Bumiputera students, especially those from the rural areas, to equip them with knowledge access and resources for university admission.
“Many plans have been implemented towards achieving this goal, and one of them is the Sarawak Education Enhancement Programme (SEEP),” he said.
Through the programme, Dr Annuar said the state government had allocated RM15 million to provide free tuition for Form 3 and Form 5 students sitting for public exams.
“A total of 56,000 students were registered under the SEEP programme, launched at SMK Beladin in Pusa recently,” he said.
“That is why we do not need a quota system for enrolment into our universities because by then anyone can continue their tertiary education as long as they have the qualification,” he emphasised.
For the record, state-owned universities and skills centres comprised Swinburne University of Technology Sarawak Campus, Curtin University Malaysia, University of Technology Sarawak, i-CATS University College, and Centre for Technology Excellence Sarawak (Centexs).
Present at the event were Sarawak Education Department deputy director (Learning Sector) Dr Les Met and KVS director Arni Suhaili.
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