S'wak provides additional RM750,000 allocation to fund 50 B40 students at UTS

SIBU, Sept 19 (Bernama) -- The Sarawak government has agreed to provide an additional allocation of RM750,000 to fund another 50 students from low-income families (B40) to continue their studies at Universiti Teknologi Sarawak (UTS), says state Deputy Education, Innovation and Talent Development Minister Dr Annuar Rapa’ee.

He said the students who came from across the state were previously left in limbo as the initial quota for 100 B40 students was full.

“But as the chairman of the UTS board of directors, I had met with Sarawak Premier Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg to allow them to study at the university, and he agreed to another RM750,000 allocation to cover the students’ fees for four years,” he said in his speech at the Sibu division-level Zakat Seminar here today.

Dr Annuar, who is also Nangka state assemblyman, said although UTS was a private university owned by the state government, the fees charged were equivalent to public higher learning institutions

He said when he was appointed as the UTS board chairman in December 2020, less than 10 per cent of students at the university were from B40 families due to the relatively high fees, so he requested Abang Johari for the fees of Sarawakian students to be reduced by 50 per cent, to which the Premier agreed.

 -- BERNAMA