Kuching: The Sarawak State Government should quickly disburse the payment of the stipend assistance fund under the Free Tertiary Education Scheme (FTES) without further delay.
It is now more than one month into the first year of their studies, and yet, according to many students, the State Government has not paid the stipend.
While the payment of the tuition fees to the Universities can wait, as the 4 universities are state-government owned and will continue the courses without any payment, the stipend assistance fund cannot wait because many of the students rely on the payment for their daily expenses.
As such, I urge the State Government to quickly pay out the stipends to those students who are entitled thereto.
Meanwhile, I reiterate my call on the State Government NOT to forget our Anak Sarawak who are not currently enrolled in the 4 State-Government owned universities, i.e., those studying in public universities (UNIMAS, Universiti Malaya, Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), etc.) and other private universities (Sunway University, Fame University, etc.).
They are also Sarawakians and should NOT be left behind.
- Sarawakian students studying in public universities throughout the country, e.g., UNIMAS, UiTM, Universiti Malaya, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, etc.
- Sarawakian students studying in private universities, both local and abroad. They equally need assistance from the State Government under the FTES, but sadly, they were left out by the GPS Government under the scheme.
In the interest of our fellow Sarawakian children and families, I hereby propose that the State Government review the FTES to include the following:
- To pay for the tuition fees of all Sarawakian students studying in public universities. Most of these students only need to pay 10% of their tuition fees, as the Federal government has subsidised 90% of their tuition fees; thus, the amount that needs to be paid ranges from RM1,200 to RM3,000 per student. The tuition fees of those under direct intake of these public universities are also much cheaper than the tuition fees charged by the 4 Sarawak Government-owned universities.
- To pay for at least half the tuition fees of all Sarawakian students studying in private universities, both local and abroad.
- For the B40 families (or those having a per capita family income of less than RM1,500), provide the same stipend assistance of RM15,000 per student per annum as provided to the students studying in the 4 Sarawak Government-owned universities.
Chong Chieng Jen
DAP Sarawak Chairman
25 March 2026
