Yayasan presents Excellence Student prizes to 113 students

0

Rosey (third left) presents the Yayasan Sarawak Excellence Student Prize to a recipient as Azmi (second left) and Jim (fourth left) look on.

MIRI: A total of 113 students from schools here who excelled in the SPM and STPM examinations last year received their Yayasan Sarawak Excellence Student Prize yesterday.

The incentives in the form of Bank Simpanan Nasional (BSN) premium saving certificate (SSP) worth RM500 for SPM receipients and RM700 for STPM recepients were presented to the students at the auditorium of Curtin University Malaysia here by the Assistant Minister of Women, Family and Childhood Development and Bekenu assemblywoman Rosey Yunus.

Rosey was representing Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hasan to officiate at the ceremony. Also present were Yayasan Sarawak director Azmi Bujang and Curtin Malaysia’s pro vice-chancellor Professor Jim Mienczakowski.

Only 86 of the 113 students were present to receive their prize yesterday. They were part of the 957 SPM students and 421 STPM students statewide selected to receive the prize.

In the text of his speech read by Rosey, Tengah said the prizes was among efforts by the Sarawak Government to give recognition as well as support to the education sector even though education is the responsibility of the federal government.

“As the state government, we want to join hands in shouldering this responsibility because this also involves our Sarawakian children,” he said.

The role of education, he observed, has changed from its traditional function when students only go to school to study to now when they are educated as the nation’s knowledgeable and noble future generation.

“Therefore, we must always be prepared to innovate and improve the education system through continuous innovation of policy and strategy. Policies and strategies that have proven successful in the past may not always work for the present and the future,” he said.

Tengah stressed that the state government understands the problem faced by parents and guardians when children under their care are given the opportunity to continue their studies at high learning institutions.

“The state government takes seriously the importance of children’s education and human capital in the future development of Sarawak.

“Therefore, the state government is committed to continuously channel funding to Yayasan Sarawak so that more Sarawakian children can be helped to study at higher institutions.

“I don’t want our children to be deprived of the education they deserved because of financial problem. I want Yayasan Sarawak to continuously be proactive and work together with education institutions as well as the local community to ensure qualified students can further their studies,” he said.