By Wilfred Pilo
KUCHING, Nov 16: The London School of Economics and Cambridge University have given two slots each for Sarawakian students to pursue tertiary education at the respective universities each year.
Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg said the collaboration with the prestigious United Kingdom universities was initiated by Yayasan Sarawak and the state government.
The prerequisite is that students must fulfil the entry requirements of the respective institutes, he added.
“These two universities providing two places for our students mean that we will have four slots for our students to study in the prestige universities in the UK.
“We want to send one Bumiputera and one non-Bumiputera student to each university but they must be qualified,” he said when officiating at the Chief Minister’s Special Awards organised by Yayasan Sarawak at the State Legislative Assembly complex here yesterday.
He suggested that students sent to the respective universities take economics and international finance, apart from other disciplines on offer.
Abang Johari added that the state government is also in discussion with Stanford University in the United States.
“We also want to send our children to study at Stanford University. People know that this university produced people like (Microsoft co-founder) Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook) and other experts in technology.
“We hope that by sending our children to further their education in this university, they too could become expert in inventing technologies,” he continued.
With such opportunities opening up for Sarawakians, the chief minister advised students to have a good command in English and excel in the appropriate subjects.
He was optimistic that if the state produced many experts in various fields, Sarawak can become an economic hub in this region.
Abang said Yayasan Sarawak will continue to give loans and scholarships to deserving students to further their education. — DayakDaily
