More hostels for students
KOTA KINABALU: The State government has approved a special fund of RM500,000 under Budget 2018 for special needs children who study at ATI College and the School Tourism Outreach Programme (STOP) undertaken by the college.
Chief Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Musa Haji Aman said the State government would also look into building more hostels for poor rural students to stay free of charge.
Musa made the announcement when gracing the 20th convocation ceremony of ATI College here yesterday. Around 200 students graduated at all levels of diploma, pre-diploma and skills certificate at the college this year.
Among the graduates are 39 students with disabilities from Sabah Cheshire Home who completed the Malaysian Skills Certificate (SKM) Level 2 pastry production course as part of the economic empowerment programme carried out by ATI College and Performance Management Delivery Unit (Pemandu).
ATI College executive chairman cum chief executive officer Datuk Seri Panglima Wong Khen Thau in his speech earlier, expressed his wish for the State government to work closely with the Sabah Private Higher Learning Institution Association (PIPTSS) by looking into funding poor students from rural areas, especially in assisting them in the form of accommodation and allowance.
Wong, who is also the president of PIPTSS, said he had requested the Minister of Higher Education, Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh, to consider to not reduce the National Higher Education Fund (PTPTN) loan for Sabah but was told to refer to the Prime Minister or Chief Minister instead.
In response, Musa said the State government, through Yayasan Sabah and the Ministry of Finance, had given millions of ringgit in scholarships to Sabahan students.
He said the State government was willing to look into Wong’s request and consider it in the next state budget.
In terms of accommodation, Musa said he encouraged state agencies that were making good money to help the government to build classrooms and hostels for children who live far away from schools.
That is what we have been doing for a long time. But I will look into building more hostels for students who cannot afford to pay for accommodation. They can stay in these hostels free of charge,” he said.
Musa said the State government is well aware of the predicament faced by our youths, especially those from rural areas.
With the recent reduction of PTPTN financing to deserving students, he said rural youth and those from lower income families were finding it difficult to continue their higher education.
This will require the need for the government to deliberate on ways to overcome this challenge in order to assist deserving students in meeting their living allowances and accommodation expenses? he said.
On another note, Musa said ATI College’s collaboration with Nilai University would reduce the necessity for Sabahans to travel to Peninsular Malaysia to pursue their tertiary education as they could now acquire their bachelors and masters degree here without having to fork out more in terms of cost or leaving their families in order to get higher education.