SANDAKAN: The LDP Education Fund was set up in 1996 to encourage students who excelled academically to pursue their studies and to reduce their families’ burden.
LDP president Datuk VK Liew disclosed that since its inception, the fund had disbursed RM1 million to 8,000 qualified students.
“Last year we gave out a total of RM79,680 to 664 students,” he said adding that since 1996, a total of 2,400 students in Sandakan had benefitted from the LDP Education fund.
According to him, this year, they have identified 161 students from Sandakan namely Tanjung Papat (51), Karamunting (50), Elopura (29), Sungai Sibuga (20), Sekong (six) and Gum Gum (five) who are qualified to receive the fund.
The RM120 is for the students to purchase school uniforms, stationaries and workbooks, he said.
Liew also said that the federal Government is sensitive to the needs of the students, including those who come from low income families and this can be seen with the abolishment of schools fees as well as the giving of the RM100 assistance to secondary and primary school students and the RM200 voucher for students in higher learning institutes.
He disclosed that in 2011, 1,648 students of Chinese descent were among the 4,000 scholarship recipients throughout the country.
“We in LDP will do our best in urging the government to recognize the Unified Examination Certificate (UEC), so that graduates from nine private secondary schools in Sabah and the other 60 throughout the country can benefit from the move,” he said.