67 TVET Sabah students receive scholarship
KOTA KINABALU: One thousand technical vocational education and training (TVET) students in Malaysia have received Dermasiswa B40 TVET (B40 TVET Scholarship), with 67 of them Sabahans.
Education Ministry secretary-general Datuk Seri Abdul Razak Jaafar said the scholarship program is aimed to assist students from B40 income families to pursue tertiary education in TVET at public higher education institutions.
“The ministry has allocated Dermasiswa B40 TVET to 41 students from three polytechnics in Sabah, where most of the recipients are from Politeknik Kota Kinabalu (PKK) with a total of 36 students.
“But from all the 1,000 students selected to receive this Dermasiswa from various institutions all over Malaysia, 67 of them are Sabahans,” he said to reporters after meeting with the recipients at Politeknik Kota Kinabalu on Saturday.
According to Abdul Razak, recipients will be receiving RM3,980 cash per semester or about RM630 monthly.
After deducting their tuition and hostel fees, they still have around RM20 to spend on a daily basis.
Earlier this year, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob announced the scholarship program to motivate and encourage more students to pursue their tertiary studies in TVET.
One of the recipients, Fazrul Fazlye Abd Mutalib from Kampung Malinsau Tani Ranau said that the scholarship strengthened his spirit to focus more and study hard.
The 18-year-old student of Computer Electrical Technology Engineering Diploma at PKK initially did not expect to be selected to receive the aid because they had never made any application before.
The second child of five siblings is also grateful for being able to ease the burden of his mother who runs a small grocery store in the village.
“I aspire to become a computer technician and have been very interested in this field of computer engineering since school.
“I also have a dream to produce antigravity shoes even though I am aware of many challenges to achieve this dream,” he said.
In addition, Fazrul also intends to continue his studies to the degree level, although at first, he only wanted to study up to the diploma.
Meanwhile, another recipient Ezza Umiera Ahmad Nazry said the scholarship she received recently was sufficient to cover her expenses throughout the semester.
The eldest of the four siblings also did not expect to be chosen to be a recipient of the scholarship.
“This scholarship not only makes it easier for me to be smarter in managing my own expenses, but it also reduces the burden of my parents,” she said.
Ezza’s father is self-employed while her mother is an Amanah Ikhtiar’s staff. She is currently taking accounting diploma at PKK.
During the event, director of PKK, Dullah Muluk expressed his appreciation to the ministry for choosing 36 PKK students and hoping the scholarship will be benefiting them in the next three years.