By William Isau
SIBU, Nov 14: The State Government has given out a total of RM15.74 million in scholarships and financial assistance to University of Technology Sarawak (UTS) students this year.
Vice-chancellor Professor Datuk Dr Khairuddin Abdul Hamid said of the amount, RM837,000 was for registration fees, full scholarships for Foundation courses (RM9.3 million), undergraduate students (RM5.175 million), and postgraduate students (RM432,000).
“This aid and scholarship are for our 1,674 students for a registration fee of RM500 per student, full scholarship for foundation studies of RM10,000 per student for a total of 930 students, undergraduate RM7,500 per student for 690 students, and postgraduate amounting to RM8,000 for 54 students,” he said during a visit by Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg to State government scholarship recipients at UTS today.
Khairuddin said the allocation and awarding of scholarships are to give opportunities to the youth to continue their studies at the tertiary level.
“This is only the first year. This amount will continue to increase from year to year,” he explained.
He said that the initial target for UTS student recruitment was 1,000, but now it has reached almost 1,500 students. He said this is due to the provision of scholarships that has attracted students to UTS that the State government owns.
Abang Johari, in his speech, said UTS is a local university that gives opportunities to local students who cannot go elsewhere due to financial constraints.
With the help provided by the government through the Sarawak Foundation, he said, local students could take up their tertiary education at UTS.
“Education is the key to success, and we must give opportunities to children to gain knowledge,” he said, adding that UTS is an investment by the government to produce Sarawakians knowledgeable in science and technology.
He called on the students to study hard to develop new economies, such as hydrogen, that have great potential as new income for Sarawak. — DayakDaily
