No varsity fees for Sarawakians

SIBU: Sarawak is looking into providing free education for its students studying in five state universities by 2026.

The state-owned learning institutions are Swinburne University of Technology, Curtin University, University of Technology Sarawak (UTS), i-Cats University College and Centre for Technology Excellence Sarawak (Centexs).

Sarawak Premier Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg said he had instructed the Sarawak Education, Innovation and Talent Development Ministry (MEITD) to conduct a study on the feasibility of providing free tertiary education.

He said MEITD Deputy Minister Datuk Dr Annuar Rapaee had informed him that the free tertiary education initiative would be rolled out under the 13th Malaysia Plan (13MP) in 2025 or 2026.“God willing, as long as Sarawak is led by Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS), it will be implemented by 2026 because I have projected that our economic strength will be even stronger in that year,” he said when launching the Pesta Benak 2023 (Tidal Bore Festival) at Sri Aman waterfront yesterday.

Abang Johari also said Sarawak’s revenue for 2022 recorded nearly RM12bil and this year’s was expected to be higher.

He added that Sarawak had set up its sovereign wealth future fund, which will complement the implementation of the free tertiary education initiative.

Abang Johari said the state government would also allocate RM1mil to nine schools in Baram for online STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) tuition, in line with the state’s mission to groom talents in science and technology.

“We want to provide the people of Sarawak with free education at state universities in order to groom human capital and local talent,” he said.

Meanwhile, Bernama reported that Abang Johari said an area between Samarahan and Sri Aman had been identified for large-scale rice cultivation using the latest technology.

He said the measure was also a long-term approach to prevent Sarawak from facing a shortage in local rice supply.

Commenting on the festival, which began on Sept 29, he said the increase in the number of visitors to the event reflected the rapid development of domestic tourism in Sarawak.

Abang Johari said the festival would be able to attract even more visitors if the organisers could diversify the activities and in turn, generate income for the local community.