SANDAKAN – A Warisan assemblyman has urged the government to not abandon the Sandakan Education Hub, which currently consists of only three higher learning institutions.
Elopura assemblyman Calvin Chong said that the education hub in Sg Batang in Mile 12 was established in 2012, and has complete infrastructure such as roads, running water, and electricity, but most of the area was left undeveloped.
“The government should play a role in developing the Sandakan Education Hub so that more universities and colleges would set up here.
“Currently, a total of 34 lots (1,565 acres) are still empty. Only three lots are occupied since it was established,” he said in a statement
Chong lamented the low occupancy rate in the area as a majority of the youths in Sandakan moved away from the district to pursue their education in Kota Kinabalu, Peninsular Malaysia, and Sarawak after they completed their SPM examinations.
The hub, the brainchild of former Sabah chief minister Tan Sri Musa Aman, is currently occupied by Universiti Malaysia Sabah (Sandakan), the Sandakan Polytechnic school, and Maktab Rendah Sains Mara.
Chong said he has met with officers from the Sandakan Municipal Council, as well as the state’s Higher Education Deputy Minister Datuk Mansor Othman, to discuss the issue and propose the development of the hub to provide more opportunities for youths in Sandakan.
“There are youths who could not pursue their studies due to financial constraints as it requires more money for them to study outside Sandakan.
“More higher learning institutions in this hub would allow these youths to pursue their studies.
“After all, it was the purpose of the education hub in the first place,” he said. – The Vibes, March 30, 2023
