(From left) SEGi College Sarawak sales and marketing manager Tay Yen Yuan, deputy principal (academic) Susie Lau Meng Ching, Teng, deputy principal Helen Ngu and SEGi University Group marketing vice president Caroline Ang gather for a photo-call.
KUCHING: SEGi College Sarawak will be giving up to RM5 million skills and academic grants (SAG) this year to Sarawakians, who seek better employment opportunities using both technical skills and academic qualifications.
The Ministry of Education (MoE) has pledged to make technical and vocational education and training (TVet) to become the students’ first choice of studies, within the next five years.
However, the ‘School-to-Work Transition Survey’ published by Khazanah Research Institute last December reported that only 13 per cent of upper secondary students had enrolled in TVet, while less than nine per cent were enrolled in polytechnics.
According to the report, there are also a significant salary difference between TVet graduates and those with academic qualifications.
SEGi University group senior executive director Daniel Teng attributed the slow pick-up in TVet to the lower salary level.
To address this, SEGi Group of Colleges is making available the multi-million ringgit SAG to students as part of the group’s corporate social responsibility programmes.
“These students will be equipped with technical skills-training and academic qualifications for better employment, with better pay and career prospects,” Teng told the reporters during a luncheon at a local hotel here yesterday.
Citing an example, Teng said SEGi Sarawak would work with local hoteliers in making available part-time employment for students, to provide them with a source of income while pursuing academic qualification.
SEGi College Sarawak had expressed its hope to work with the Sarawak government, associations and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to identify up to 500 Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) and Unified Examination Certificate (UEC) school-leavers set to benefit from this grant.
The SAG is meant for students from poor backgrounds and those who are not academically strong.
SEGi’s flagship campus is in Kota Damansara and it has four other campuses – each in Subang Jaya, Kuala Lumpur, Penang and Kuching.
SEGi University and Group of Colleges was awarded with a five-star rating for teaching, facilities, social responsibility and inclusiveness in the 2016 Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) audit – the first university in Malaysia ever to receive recognition for prioritising societal needs.
The institution also earned ‘Six Stars’ in the 2016/2017 Malaysia Quality Evaluation System (MyQuest), and had received a ‘Putra Brand Award’ (Education and Learning Category) in 2017 and last year.