Yap and Harun mingling with the newly-enrolled UMS students yesterday.
KOTA KINABALU: Forty-five percent or 2,021 of 4,481 newly enrolled Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) students this year are from Sabah.
They are followed by 1,941 students from West Malaysia, 381 from Sarawak, and 138 students from 23 countries including China, Fiji, Germany, Tanzania, Pakistan, Indonesia, India and Brunei.
UMS Vice Chancellor Professor Datuk Dr Mohd Harun Abdullah during a meeting with the new students yesterday, also mentioned that female students make up the higher percentage of the enrollment at 3,052 (68 per cent).
As in previous enrolments, Science stream makes up the lower percentage at 43 per cent, compared to the 57 per cent that enrolled in the Literature stream.
Dr Harun said UMS also offered 100 places for those from low income families who could not afford to enrol in pre-graduates courses, a corporate social responsibility (CSR) programme by UMS entering its third year.
Among the new students are 19 were physically-challenged. The campus will provide them with transportation to and from their classes. They will also be placed in the lower grounds of the hostels.
Deputy Higher Education Minister Datuk Mary Yap Kain Ching, who was also present, advised the students to avoid practising plagiarism and to improve English usage.
She said that these and other reminders should serve as a guideline in determining their performance and achievement during their years in tertiary education.
“Other than focusing on your respective programme of studies, I wish to remind students to improve their English language as it is important in producing global pre-graduates on the international platform,” she said.
Yap also urged the students not to participate in activities such as illegal assemblies and demonstrations, as these “do not reflect them as pre-graduates.”
“Although principally, the Universities and College Universities Act (Amended) 2012 Section 15 allows students to be involved in politics outside of campus, it does not mean that students can simply do whatever they wish to do without weighing the consequences,” she said.