State education scholarship fund increased to RM113 million
Published on: Thursday, September 12, 2024
Juhar, Mohd Ariffin and others with the scholarship recipients.
Kota Kinabalu: The State Government has increased its education scholarship fund to RM113 million, aiming to support 10,000 students in Sabah in pursuing higher education within the country.
State Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Datuk Dr Mohd Arifin Mohd Arif said this is after an additional RM12 million allocation which was recently approved by Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor.
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“The Chief Minister has approved an increase this year from RM55 million to RM101 million.
“With the increase in the scholarship fund to RM113 million, many more students can be supported in pursuing their studies within the country.
“This is one of his (Hajiji) commitments and concerns for human capital, especially in the field of education and knowledge, one of the pillars of Sabah Maju Jaya’s human capital agenda and the wellbeing of the people,” he said after the Head of State’s Excellent Achievement Scholarship Award 2024 at Istana Seri Kinabalu, here, Wednesday.
Arifin, who is also State Education Committee Chairman, said Sabah currently has 9,000 students pursuing studies within the country and aims to reach 10,000 students.
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“For studying abroad, we are targeting 100 Sabah students with active scholarships and new additions.
“The remainder will be within the country, where we have already reached 9,000 students, and we will complete the target of 10,000 Sabah students,” he said.
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Arifin invites students to take advantage of the educational sponsorship opportunities by applying online through the integrated portal, the Sabah Education Sponsorship Portal, launched by Hajiji in July.
“The portal consolidates all education scholarship sponsors such as the Sabah State Government Scholarship, Sabah Foundation scholarships and grants, Muis, Sabah State Education Fund and more than 10 initiatives provided by the Government,” he said.
Meanwhile, the ceremony saw Head of State Tun Juhar Mahiruddin presenting certificates to five outstanding Sabah students who will pursue their studies at several universities abroad.
Among them is former SMK St Joseph Papar student, Asha Ann Katrie, who will be pursuing a Bachelor of Commerce (Accounting) at the University of Melbourne in Australia.
The eldest of two siblings achieved a 4.00 CGPA and aspires to become a forensic accountant.
“I am thrilled to have been selected for the scholarship from our Head of State. Initially, I did not expect to be chosen as there are almost 8,000 other excellent candidates out there.
“In reality, I was just an average student, but I worked hard to improve my performance in the SPM trial exams, and eventually, my SPM results made my parents proud,” she said.
Her mother, Evlyne June Charlie, expressed gratitude to the State Government for the opportunity given to her eldest child.
“I am very grateful and touched. I hope my child can find relief in her studies. Thank you to the Head of State and the Sabah Government for this opportunity,” she said.
Other recipients include Nicholas Chung Hong Sheng (University of East London, England), Nur Nadhirah Sulaiman (Cardiff University, Wales), Aedan Luke Komuji (University of Liverpool, England) and Muhamad Idham Noltam (Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane).
Also present were the Chairman of the Sabah State Government Scholarship Committee, Datuk Zainuddin Aman, who is also the Director of State Civil Service, and Deputy State Secretary (Administration) Datuk Diyanah Abdullah.
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