Education and human capital are among the main agendas emphasised by the State Government in the development of Sabah, said Chief Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Hajiji Noor.

He said excellent and quality human capital are important elements in making sure various government policies, agendas and development programs would succeed and at the same time will push further the state’s progress to a higher level.

He also admitted that Sabah needs human capital diversity to boost the state’s economic growth, in line with the direction of Sabah Maju Jaya (SMJ).

“The development of human capital in Sabah will not be concentrated in only one specific field, because we need highly skilled expertise in the other fields.

“In facing the challenges of Covid-19 endemic and also dependence on the manufacturing and agricultural industries, our country is also changing to a digital industry. All operations are carried out online and cashless.

“The digital field needs to be explored more widely by our young people in line with the country’s direction,” he said at the 33rd Sabah State Excellent Scholarship Award Ceremony at Menara Tun Mustapha here on Tuesday.

This was the first award ceremony that he attended and officiated as Chief Minister.

Forty students with excellent results in the 2021 Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) received the award.

Hajiji called on the recipients to take advantage of this golden opportunity to further increase their knowledge, especially those related to creativity and innovation to be part of the catalyst for the goals of the Sabah State Government.

As the state’s future, he said the knowledge acquired by excellent students will be able to help develop the state.

He also said that the State Government continues to prioritize the education development agenda in addition to diversifying education programs to help boost the Federal Government’s efforts to improve the quality of education in the state.

According to him, the State Government will also ensure that the children of Sabah will not fall behind in order to secure their future.

“Thus, the State Government through the SMJ Development Plan has introduced several incentive packages to enable them to continue their studies. The implementation of the incentive packages is carried out through education assistance programs that have been implemented with allocations amounting to RM24 million in 2021 such as the Higher Education Institution Assistance Program, the Computer Courtesy Assistance Program (BAIK), the Special Examination Cash Assistance Program (BAKTI) and the IPT Registration Money Assistance Program (BUDI).

“Incentive packages such as BAIK, BAKTI and BUDI have also been continued with an additional initiative amounting to RM35 million this year,” he added.

During his speech, Hajiji also congratulated Yayasan Sabah (YS) Group for achieving the highest income in the last nine years with a pre-tax collection of RM424 million for 2021.

“This is proven that if an organization is well managed and has encouraging external environment, then higher income returns can be obtained. The higher the YS Group’s income, the greater its contribution to the people of this state.

“I also hope that the other State statutory bodies and government stakeholder companies will show good performance in order to strengthen the State Government’s agenda for the benefit of Sabahans”, he stressed.

Also present during the event were the Minister of Special Tasks, Datuk Dr Mohd Arifin Mohd Arif and Yayasan Sabah director Datuk Haji Ghulamhaidar Khan Bahadar.

Source:
courtesy of THE BORNEO POST

by THE BORNEO POST

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