Dr Abdul Rahman (seated, seventh left) joins the recipients and their parents in a group photo after the ceremony at Pantai Damai Constituency Service Centre in Kuching.
KUCHING: Pursuing education for the sake of a better future should be the priority of those taking their first step into any institution of higher learning (IPT).
In stating this, Assistant Minister of Rural Electricity Dr Abdul Rahman Junaidi acknowledges that there are many youths who are misled to think that being a university student is ‘a glamorous thing’.
Due to being entrapped by such misconception, he said many students had to repeat their semesters and delay their graduation, he said, pointing out that there were also those who had to quit their studies altogether.
“Upon receiving your offers to IPTs, you have between three and five years to study hard towards achieving your objective of being successful in any field that you choose after graduation.
“Studying at universities is not about ‘glamour’. Students must use the opportunity the best way they can — if the situation permits, they should proceed to study at higher levels,” he spoke prior to presenting education incentives to IPT students from Pantai Damai constituency here yesterday.
There were 42 recipients, including four studying at overseas universities.
Dr Abdul Rahman, who is Pantai Damai assemblyman, also expressed his pride in seeing many youths from his constituency receive placements at various IPTs each year.
He attributed this to the ‘One Household, One Graduate’ campaign, which he helped to establish in 1996.
“The number of those (from Pantai Damai) enrolling in IPTs is increasing. My team is monitoring this and I hope to translate this development into statistics that can be viewed and studied further – for us to assess the viability of this programme.
“As an elected representative, it is my obligation to empower the community of Pantai Damai, especially the young ones, through education,” he said.
On the education incentives, Dr Abdul Rahman said it is a monthly programme handled by the Pantai Damai Constituency Service Centre and encouraged more constituents to come and apply for it.
“We have many levels of education incentives, including those for IPT students who obtain outstanding results in their semester examinations. This ‘graduate’s incentive’ was launched in July this year.
“All these programmes are meant to realise my hope that one day, Pantai Damai would be among the key areas that ‘churn out’ many top professionals for Sarawak such as engineers, doctors and lawyers,” he added.