By DayakDaily Team
KUCHING, April 21: Once the free tertiary education initiative is implemented in Sarawak-owned universities by 2026, the Sarawak government will consider sending graduate students to pursue postgraduate studies abroad.
According to a Sarawak Public Communication Unit (Ukas) news report today, Sarawak Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg said the postgraduate students would be among the learned minds to form the core of Sarawak’s human resource capital, enabling Sarawak to forge ahead with its ‘new economy’ pursuits.
As reported by Ukas, Abang Johari made the remarks while addressing Sarawak students studying at universities in and around Leeds during a luncheon held at a hotel in Leeds in the United Kingdom (UK) yesterday (April 20).
The Premier described Sarawak’s new economy as one based on renewable resources, environmental sustainability, and digitalisation and told the students that the State would require a second layer of corporate and government leaders to develop the economy further.
He also cited the Sarawak Tropical Infectious Disease Centre in Kota Samarahan as an example, stating that the centre would require expertise in pharmacy, chemistry, biology, and microbiology in order to develop new vaccines for tropical diseases.
In the renewable energy space, Abang Johari further described Sarawak as the country’s front-runner. With all of the legal parameters in place through the passage of new laws, this would undoubtedly necessitate the hiring of new talent in the relevant fields.
Earlier in his speech, he explained to the students the purpose of his weeklong visits to Leeds and London in the UK, followed by Poland.
The Premier and members of his entourage arrived in the UK on Friday night (April 19), first to tour the Drax power plant near Leeds, which uses biomass energy, then to London to seek collaboration with British companies to develop compound semiconductors and finally to Poland to participate in the Central Europe Hydrogen Forum.
Also present at the luncheon were Sarawak Deputy Premier Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hasan, Sarawak State Secretary Datuk Amar Mohamad Abu Bakar Marzuki, and Chief Political Secretary to the Premier, Fazzruddin Abdul Rahman. — DayakDaily
