KUCHING: There is a need to ensure quality graduates in Sarawak especially in professional fields such as medicine.
In stating this, Deputy Premier Datuk Amar Dr Sim Kui Hian said that the state, through Universiti Malaysia Sarawak’s (Unimas) medical programme, is targeting to produce at least 40 medical doctors per year.
“Unfortunately, for this year, quite a lot of the quota was not taken up. This means that they (students) did not fulfil the (entry) criteria.
“And we cannot lower the standard (of education) because we must make sure graduates are good.
“Imagine, when these medical students go out to work and they are not good, in the end, it will also affect the person’s life,” he said.
He said this to reporters after presenting certificates of excellence for the 2023 Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) and Unified Examination Certificate (UEC) at the Ang Cheng Ho Community Hall, Jalan Batu Kawah here on Sunday (June 9).
Dr Sim, who is also Public Health, Housing and Local Government Minister encouraged Sarawakian students to pursue their tertiary education at local universities.
“We encourage students to study locally first because there are so many good universities in Sarawak and Malaysia, then later students can continue their postgraduate studies overseas,” he said.
He added that the Sarawak government through Yayasan Sarawak is also offering various education assistance and scholarships, and urged students to seize this opportunity.
“We are focused on producing local talents and this is part of nation-building. This is crucial for the region’s development and ensuring Sarawak does not lag behind as Malaysia progresses,” he said.
Earlier, Dr Sim, who is also Batu Kawa assemblyman presented the excellent certificate to 81 students from secondary schools in the Batu Kawa and Batu Kitang constituencies.
The students excelled and achieved more than 5As in their 2023 SPM and UEC examinations.
