353 students receive educational sponsorships from Petronas
KUCHING: Petronas recently awarded education sponsorships to 353 deserving students to pursue tertiary education in various disciplines following outstanding performances in the 2016 Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) examinations.
The education sponsorships worth RM134 million awarded under the Petronas Education Sponsorship Programme ( PESP) testify to Petronas’ commitment to the development of Malaysia’s human capital and skilled professionals in an increasingly challenging business environment.
The education sponsorships were presented to 223 of the 353 students by Petronas executive vice-president and CEO Upstream, Datuk Mohd Anuar Taib at Universiti Teknologi Petronas ( UTP), Seri Iskandar.
Among those present was Petronas senior vice-president of Group Human Resource Management, Dato’ Raiha Azni Abd Rahman.
The remaining students will receive their education sponsorships at three other presentation ceremonies to be held next month in Kuching, Kota Kinabalu and Kuala Terengganu.
PESP was first introduced in 1975, a year after Petronas was established. It is now firmly part of Petronas’ larger corporate social investment in the field of education.
Addressing the students, Anuar said: “Today, you will be walking in the footsteps of over 36,000 recipients who have benefited from PESP. Those recipients are now leaders in countless capacities in Petronas, the industry and the nation.
“For Petronas, our rewarding moment comes in seeing our sponsored students flourish in their studies and continue to excel throughout their careers.”
Anuar said Petronas remained focused on building a sustainable pipeline of talents, not just for its future human resource requirements, but in line with the organisation’s mission of contributing to the wellbeing of society and supporting the nation’s pursuit of progress.
The workforce of the future would be expected to be resourceful, technically- competent and digitally-advanced.
“What will make one stand out will be flexibility, resilience and agility to withstand the challenges of working life and thrive as winners,” he said.
Under PESP, sponsorships are granted annually to deserving students to pursue tertiary education up to their first bachelor’s degree in relevant courses at local or international institutions of higher learning.
These include Universiti Teknologi Petronas (UTP) as well as foreign universities in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and Canada.
This year, Petronas received more than 7,000 applications.
Apart from achieving excellent SPM results, each candidate had to go through a strict and rigorous selection where high leadership skills and ability to work in a team were assessed.