SARAWAK will ensure students of second and third-year at state-owned higher learning institutions (IPTs) will be included in the state’s free education policy which is expected to be implemented in 2026.
Education, Innovation and Talent Development Deputy Minister Datuk Dr Annuar Rapaee said the government would be able to estimate the number of students in each of the institutions in 2026.
“By then we will know how many students there are in each of the universities which the capacity is currently about 4,000.
“Therefore, if all of them are given free (tertiary) education in 2026, that means we have about 25,000 students and whole of Sarawak will benefit from this policy,” he said.
The five state-owned higher learning institutions are Curtin University, Swinburne University, University of Technology Sarawak (UTS), i-CATS University College, and Centre for Technology Excellence Sarawak (Centexs).
He was responding to Datuk Seri Wong Soon Koh (PSB-Bawang Assan) during Q&A session in the state legislative assembly (DUN) sitting here today.
Dr Annuar also assured that students from state-owned international schools would be entitled to free education.
He said the main objective of these schools is to offer the opportunity to the low income students, especially those in the rural areas, to have access to attend international schools.
Therefore, he said, it is important to ensure they will be able to enrol at all the universities, particularly the state-owned ones.
“So, this policy is actually a parallel where we start with international schools and by the year 2026, hopefully, we will be able to provide free education to all the students in Sarawak,” he said.
Earlier, he described the free education for state-owned tertiary institutions as a “very massive” policy, which will bring great benefits for the future generation of Sarawak.
He said his ministry is currently engaging with the relevant stakeholders, including the five state-owned higher learning institutions, Economic Planning Unit Sarawak, State Financial Secretary, Yayasan Sarawak and State Education Department.
“Three labs have already been done to deliberate on the strategies of implementation of this noble policy,” he said.
