Kota Kinabalu: Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor said RM474.55 million will be allocated for human capital development next year.
“This is priority for human capital development programmes, among them scholarship and education grants,” he said during the closing ceremony of the Masiswa Games Sabah Zone 2023 at the University College Sabah Foundation (UCSF), here, recently.
Hajiji said the State Government has introduced several initiatives to ease the burden of youths pursuing tertiary education, such as the one-off cash assistance to pay for their registration fees under the Bantuan Pendaftaran IPT (BUDI) programme.
The initiatives were being taken because the needs and welfare of students are top on the State government’s agenda.
Hajiji, who is also UCSF Chancellor called upon the private and public higher educational institution students to continue supporting the State’s development process through the Hala Tuju Sabah Maju Jaya (SMJ) plan.
“The State Government needs the support to ensure all the development agendas in the Hala Tuju SMJ plan are successfully implemented,” he said.
On the latest development of UCSF, the Chief Minister said he fully supports the university’s plan to set up campuses outside of Kota Kinabalu.
“As the UCSF Chancellor, I am always sensitive to the higher educational development in Sabah and institutions owned by the State Government.
“I have taken note of the positive issues announced by the Vice-Chancellor (Dr Rafiq Idris), and as a follow-up to the State Government’s decision to provide research and development funds, I am made to understand that the UCSF Centre for Development Studies is undertaking several researches.
“I believe with the present capability and research strength, UCSF is capable of producing research in various fields of studies,” he said.
On another note, Hajiji said the Masiswa (Majlis Sukan IPTS Malaysia) or inter-private higher education institution (IPTS) Games is the best platform for moulding the “Thinking Athlete”.
A total of 1,600 athletes and officials from 17 institutions converged for four days at the host campus, UCSF, to compete in nine events.
“I am glad to see the cooperation and involvement of the IPTS in Sabah. Keep up the cooperation and sportsmanship,” he said.
