TAWAU – Yayasan Prihatin Nasional (Prihatin) is aiming to assist 6,000 students in Sabah through the Keluarga Malaysia Education Tour to further their studies at institutions of higher learning.
Prihatin chief executive officer Datuk Mohd Aizuddin Ghazali said the number covers five rural areas and nine parliamentary constituencies, and will increase compared with the 5,000 Sabahan students aided before this.
He said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob asked the Prihatin secretariat to continue the assistance in Sabah.
“This is actually our fourth year in Sabah after 2016, 2017, and 2018. When it was halted due to Covid-19, the present prime minister was then mentor minister for our education tour programme and now that he is prime minister, he wants the aid programme to continue,” he said.
He was speaking to reporters after launching the 2022 Keluarga Malaysia Education Tour programme by Sabah Assistant Youth and Sports Minister Andi Muhammad Suryady Bandy here today.
The one-day programme here saw 20 public and private institutions of higher learning, higher-skill institutions, as well as strategic partners participating.
Meanwhile, Andi said the 2022 Keluarga Malaysia Education Tour is an initiative and special project by the prime minister to open up opportunities for the community, especially for interior and rural residents, to have access to higher education.
Apart from that, Andi said he also hoped the federal government would set up a higher education institution in Kalabakan, in line with the growth of residents in the district.
“Students from Kalabakan have the potential to further their education at a higher level, but they cannot do so due to family financial problems.
“Kalabakan and Tawau residents are waiting for a higher education institution here,” he added.
The Statistics Department recorded the census of Tawau and Kalabakan at 514,000 for the year 2020. – Bernama, August 19, 2022
