BY NURIN PATRA and ALEXANDRA LORNA
KUCHING: Yayasan Sarawak is optimistic the Sarawak Education Expo initiative in all districts will address the issue of dropouts among children in the state.
Yayasan Sarawak director, Mersal Abang Rosli said that the foundation believes they can help the children of Sarawak to learn about the opportunities available.
“This will enable them to make choices to further their education and build their careers, whether in academic fields or specific skills, especially in Sarawak-owned institutions,” he said during the opening of the expo at i-CATS University College here on today.
He also said that it is important that the children of Sarawak, especially from rural areas, learn about and benefit from the educational assistance provided by the Sarawak government through Yayasan Sarawak.
“This effort has shown a positive impact not only in terms of enrollment in educational and skill institutions owned by Sarawak but also in terms of the increase in the number of sponsorship applications and educational assistance for the children of Sarawak,” he said.
He added that this expo will become an annual programme so that the children of Sarawak can get the latest information and use it to make firm choices, further their education, and build their respective careers.
“For the first time, we are collaborating with non-governmental organisations (NGOs) such as the Dayak Bidayuh National Association,Yayasan Budaya Melayu Sarawak, Persatuan Kebajikan Pelajar Islam Sarawak (Pekepis), Angkatan Belia Islam Malaysia Sarawak, Pertubuhan Amal Berjasa Sarawak (Pembela), Yayasan Dakwah Islamiah Malaysia Sarawak (Yadim), Sahabat Belia Hikmah (SBH) Sarawak and Angkatan Belia Malaysian Future Leader School.
“These NGOs have organised Youth Leisure Programmes in 18 locations throughout Sarawak in conjunction with this expo,” he said.
The expo organised especially for children who have the qualifications to further their studies but are left behind due to logistics or access to information has targeted a total of 14,000 visitors across 43 locations, consisting of SPM/STPM graduates, school students, and the general public.
The expo also provides counseling and guidance services to students, helping them obtain advice on making the right choices towards building a career path that aligns with their qualifications and industry needs.
Hence, visitors or graduates will also have the opportunity to register for admission to the institutions involved in this expo.
In addition to the official launch of the Sarawak Education Expo 2024, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) exchange took place between the Yayasan Sarawak, Curtin University Malaysia, Swinburne University of Technology (Sarawak Campus), University Technology Sarawak (UTS), i-CATS University College and the Malaysian Institute of Certified Public Accountants (MICPA).
This collaboration underscores a commitment to enhance educational standards and foster professional development in the field of accounting.
It outlines a comprehensive plan to strengthen, promote, and develop collaboration between the parties in the learning and development initiatives, new pathways for sponsored students, monitoring and performance evaluation, support training and student development, enhancing knowledge and employability as well as explores additional areas of cooperation.
