KUCHING, Sept 28: Democratic Action Party (DAP) Sarawak chairman Chong Chieng Jen urges the State government, in the coming State Budget, to partially subsidise Sarawakian students currently in tertiary education, pending the planning to provide free tertiary education for students studying in State-owned universities.
According to Chong in a statement today, he said DAP Sarawak supports the State government’s proposal of providing free tertiary education for Sarawakians in the universities in Sarawak.
He said that on average, tuition fees for a degree course in public universities without government subsidy is approximately RM20,000 per student per year.
“For the proposed 5,000 students, that will add up to RM100 million per year per batch of students.
“Given that most degree courses can be completed within three years and some four years, taking the mean length of the degree courses to be three-and-a-half years, the cost to the government per year will be a maximum of RM350 million,” he added.
Chong pointed out against a backdrop of more than RM10 billion annual revenue, RM350 million constitutes 3.5 per cent of the Sarawak government’s annual revenue assuming that there is no further increase of government revenue in years to come.
“From a finance point of view, it is definitely affordable for the State government to provide this amount.
“However, a more important question to ask is the employability and the job market for these graduates, whether there should be more emphasis on providing Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) training to our youth.”
Chong further noted that as the State heads towards industrialisation, it is inevitable that market demand for technically trained personnel will increase and in many industrial countries, salaries for technical personnel are much higher than salaries for degree holders.
“Therefore, while the State government is still contemplating on the matter, since the State government can afford it, there should be budgetary allocation to subsidise Sarawakian students who are currently studying in universities, be it local universities or foreign universities,” he remarked. — DayakDaily
