KUCHING, June 30: Petronas today awarded scholarships, under its Petronas Education Sponsorship Programme (PESP), to 44 outstanding Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) school leavers from Sarawak.
They are among the 300 selected nationwide. There were 8,280 applications for the scholarship this year.
The national oil giant’s senior vice-president (Group Human Resource Management) Datuk Raiha Azni Abd Rahman said of the RM113 million allocated for PESP this year, RM8.9 million was for the 44 students from Sarawak. The money is for the students’ education, from foundation to their first degree.
To the recipients, she said, “Take this opportunity as a challenge to achieve your dreams and make your parents proud of your achievements. Remember that you carry the hopes and dreams of your parents, families, communities, and Petronas.
“Make your mark in the world and make us all proud!”
Together with this fresh batch of PESP recipients, Petronas has sponsored 782 Sarawakian students since 2003 to pursue their studies in petroleum engineering, chemical engineering, geophysics, law and other industry related courses at either Universiti Teknologi Petronas (UTP) or top universities worldwide.
Speaking at the award-presentation ceremony, Raiha assured that Petronas would continue to invest in human capital development, as part of its contribution towards nation building.
“Although the oil and gas industry continues to grow rapidly with new technological and digital breakthroughs, it becomes increasingly vulnerable to us too. The Industry Revolution 4.0 brings about technological distruptors that can only be overcome by increasing our ability to adapt and adopt to these digital revolutions to improve,” she stressed.
During the ceremony, Petronas also presented an additional 61 sponsorships to trainees who are undergoing technical training under the Vocational Institution Sponsorship and Training Assistance (VISTA). There were also sponsorship for 41 Sarawakians studying at Maktab Rendah Sains Mara (MRSM).
Raiha remarked that Petronas recognised the importance of developing technical skills to drive Sarawak’s economy further, and VISTA was a collaborative effort with several vocational institutions in the state.
Under VISTA, Petronas provides support in the form of infrastructure, programme improvement and sponsorship for eligible trainees.
“To date, 1,200 highly skilled young Sarawakians have benefited from this programme since 2007. They are now in various industries, including oil and gas.”
As for the MRSM students, they are under the Budi-Petronas Programme. The sponsorship includes annual educational allowances for learning materials, uniforms and other basic needs. To date, 244 MRSM students in Sarawak have benefited from this initiative. — DayakDaily
