SIBU: Wong Nai Siong Secondary School Education Foundation had recently decided to annually allocate RM160,000 in scholarships for deserving students of the school to pursue their tertiary education.
In announcing this, the chairman of the school Board of Management, Temenggong Vincent Lau Lee Ming said the first batch of the scholarships are now open to the ex-students, especially those who graduated from the school last year, to apply.
“The Foundation committee has delivered the application forms to the school. Those ex-students who are interested to apply can contact the school, particularly the principal Timothy Ngu,” he told a press conference held at the school here yesterday.
Lau said though the committee did not set a deadline for the application, the applicants should submit their applications as soon as possible to avoid being processed late.
“We hope the scholarships can help the poor students and the ex-students of the school to have a better chance of furthering their studies in institutions of higher learning.
Previously the parents were worried that their children might not be able to obtain financial assistance, but now they should feel confident about it.
“However, the committee has not decided what amount to be given to each recipient yearly and it will also depend on the number of applicants.
“The scholarships will be granted annually until the recipients complete their studies, provided they produce good results academically to continue enjoying it,” he said.
At the present, he said former students from the school, which is an independent school, were holding certificates, which were not recognised by the government and therefore could only further their tertiary education in either local private institution of higher learning or overseas institutions.
He said the fees for studying in these institutions were usually higher compared to the public institutions of higher learning in our country.
Apart from the awarding of scholarships, the committee of Wong Nai Siong Secondary School has also allocated the same amount ofRM160,000 to the school for its administrative expenditure.
He said the Foundation was set up more than a year ago through the effort of Dato Henry Lau.
Its main purpose, he pointed out was to provide financial assistance to the school and its students in whatever ways they deem fit.
He added that so far, the Foundation has raised RM8.5 million, which was still RM1.5 million short of RM10 million targeted.
Lau expressed his confidence that the target would be achieved but along the way, it needed the support from the public especially the Chinese community in solving the problem of financial source.
Meanwhile the school principal, Timothy Ngu expects about 10 students to receive the scholarships annually.
“The amount of scholarships they would receive is enough to pay for their basic expenses.
“It could even exceed the amount of scholarships granted by the government,” he said.
Ngu said in the past there were so many parents who were hesitant in sending their children to Wong Nai Siong Secondary School simply because they would expect to face financial difficulty sending their children for tertiary education in later days.
But, he explained that this problem could somehow be solved, to some extent, through the awarding of the scholarships.