KUCHING, Dec 20 — Intakes into Sarawak-owned institutions of higher learning will give priority to students taking up technical and financial disciplines when free tertiary education starts in 2026, state Premier Tan Sri Abang Johari Openg said tonight.
He said students taking up disciplines, such as engineering, accountancy, cyber analysis, cyber law and computer science, will then have better chances of securing employment.
“We don’t want more students to take up non-technical disciplines because they will not find it easy to get jobs after graduating,” he said at the Unit for Other Religions (Unifor) Appreciation dinner here.
He said free education is given to all students regardless of their racial and religious backgrounds.
“By the year 2026, whether they are poor or rich, they will receive free tertiary education so long as they are eligible to study at the state-owned institutions,” he said.
He said free tertiary education policy cannot be immediately implemented because the moment the number of students is increased, the number of lecturers will also to be increased and facilities will have to be expanded.
He said state Education, Innovation and Talent Development Minister Datuk Seri Roland Sagah Wee Inn and his deputy, Datuk Dr Annuar Rapaee are calculating on the cost of increasing the number of students and the number of lecturers as well as expanding the facilities.
The premier also said the University of Malaya (UM) plans to set up an off-campus law faculty in Sarawak.
He said the UM had informed him of its plans to set up the off-campus faculty, adding that it will offer courses in Native Customary Rights (NCR) land, Malaysia Agreement 1963, Inter-Governmental Committee (IGC) Report, Cobbold Commission Report and traditional laws as elective subjects.
“In Peninsular Malaysia, they don’t teach MA63 or IGC Report,” he said the university offers the courses after Sarawak has made a lot of noise.
He said Swinburne University of Technology, Sarawak campus, has offered a two-year diploma course on MA63 and NCR land and this will be followed by another two years at Swinburne University in Melbourne for a full degree.
