BERA, March 13 — The Keluarga Malaysia Education Tour (JPKM) programme organised by Yayasan Prihatin Nasional (Prihatin) can help realise the aspirations of rural students to further their studies at the tertiary level, says Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.
He said with the tour to be held at 50 locations throughout the country, the target group could be better approached and facilitated.
“In fact, this education tour can help students with financial problems to further their studies with contributions from various agencies.
“We also focus on helping these groups, because sometimes, their family’s status and background do not allow them to continue their studies, so we try to help them through this tour,” he said when speaking during the tour’s opening ceremony at the Bera District Council Convention Hall here, today.
He also called on government agencies, private companies and government-linked companies (GLCs) to contribute, so that more poor and underprivileged students could be helped.
Also present were Federal Territories Minister Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim, JPKM Main Committee chairman Prof Emeritus Tan Sri Sahol Hamid Abu Bakar and Prihatin chief executive officer Datuk Mohd Aizuddin Ghazali.
The JPKM from March 6 to April 30 aims to provide opportunities to those with Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) and Sijil Tinggi Persekolahan Malaysia (STPM) certificates to further their studies.
Ismail Sabri, who is also Bera MP, informed that the programme organised in the constituency was targeting to benefit about 1,000 individuals.
He added that through the tour, students who had missed out on gaining entry to institutes of higher learning (IPTs) due to reasons such as errors in filling in the online form, being late in submitting the form or choosing the wrong field of study, could be given another opportunity to apply.
“We will go down to meet students facing such issues and help them,” he said, adding that the programme had successfully helped 1,583 students during the tour in Segamat, Johor recently.
According to Ismail Sabri, the education agenda has always been one of the government’s main priority in helping the people, and various policies and initiatives have been implemented to achieve the goal.
At the ceremony, Ismail Sabri also presented an RM4 million mock cheque from the Federal Territory Islamic Religious Council (MAIWP) to Prihatin for education sponsorship in conjunction with JPKM at the regional level, as well as RM1 million each from UNITAR International University and Petronas Foundation. — Bernama
