Deputy Minister for Education, Innovation and Talent Development Datuk Dr Annuar Rapaee revealed that 1,433 students had chosen not to accept the Free Tertiary Education Scheme (FTES) assistance despite being eligible under the state-funded programme.
He said that most of the students involved were final-year students, while others remained bound by scholarship agreements already signed with sponsoring organisations.
“Nevertheless, the decision indirectly created additional opportunities for more Sarawakian students to benefit from the state’s higher education assistance initiative,” he said.
He said this when responding to a supplementary question raised by Safiee Ahmad during the question-and-answer session in the Sarawak Legislative Assembly (DUN) sitting today.
Earlier, Safiee requested clarification on the number of students currently benefiting from FTES, including the breakdown according to participating higher learning institutions.
At the same time, Annuar said the number of FTES recipients is expected to increase following new student intakes scheduled in June and September this year.
He said the state government is targeting a total of 10,000 students statewide to benefit from the free tertiary education initiative beginning this year.
