214 students receive Petronas educational aid

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The Petronas Education Sponsorship Program recipients are among those who will be pursuing tertiary studies majoring in petroleum engineering, mechanical engineering, geophysics, finance, law and other industry-related courses.

The Petronas Education Sponsorship Program recipients are among those who will be pursuing tertiary studies majoring in petroleum engineering, mechanical engineering, geophysics, finance, law and other industry-related courses.

KOTA KINABALU: Petronas yesterday presented educational assistance and scholarships to 214 best students in Sabah.

The educational assistance and scholarships were presented by Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Joseph Pairin Kitingan at a ceremony held at the Shangri-La’s Tanjung Aru Resort and Spa near here. He represented Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Haji Aman.

Musa in his speech said that Petronas had held on to its commitment to carry out its social responsibility.

He said that Petronas’ commitment was in line with the status and credibility of the country’s oil and gas company.

He added that the Petronas education sponsorship would contribute to the country’s academic prestige.

“I believe that through the sponsorship, it can help the government’s effort to create visionary and able students capable of leading the country with excellence,” Musa said.

Meanwhile, Petronas Upstream Malaysia senior vice president Datuk M Anuar Taib said that since the establishment of Petronas in 1974, its educational sponsorship programme had been one of their main efforts to contribute towards human capital development in Malaysia.

He said that more than 35,000 students have benefitted from the programme costing RM2.9 billion.

The secondary students were from Maktab Rendah Sains Mara (MRSM) in Sabah comprising of MRSM Kota Kinabalu, MRSM Sandakan and MRSM Tawau. They were from poor families.

“The students will receive assistance in the form of school uniform, textbooks, sportswear as well as other basic needs until they finish their Form Five studies,” he said.

Aside from the secondary students, Petronas also rendered its support to six Sabah-based vocational institutes comprising of Institut Kemahiran MARA Kota Kinabalu, Institut Latihan Perindustrian Kota Kinabalu, Kolej Yayasan Sabah, Institut Latihan Teknik dan Perdagangan (ILTP) Papar, GiatMara Kimanis and IKBN Kinarut under the Vocational Institution Sponsorship and Training Assistance (VISTA).

Under the programme, the vocational institutes will receive assistance in the form of machinery supply and technical devices for courses conducted, he said.

The VISTA programme will begin this year, he said.

There were also 22 recipients for the education sponsorship.

Also present at the ceremony were Industrial Development Minister Datuk Raymond Tan Shu Kiah and Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Masidi Manjun.