KUCHING, Dec 25 2025: A social activist Voon Shiak Ni is seeking clarification from the state government if free tertiary education Sarawak (FTES) scheme will be terminated in the event that the students perform poorly in their examinations.
She said these are some existing concerns on the ground which call for clarification as to whether there is any termination criteria on the financial support to be provided by the government for its recipients of the scheme .
“The concerns were raised by public with reference to Public Service Department (JPA) scholarship and also Yayasan Sarawak sponsorship for university students where the continuance of the financial support is dependant on the recipient’s examination results during the course .
“For example , the scholarship or financial support will be terminated if the recipient's examination results do not meet the minimum academic requirements set by JPA .
“In other words , the privilege is conditional on the performance of the recipient throughout the course,” Voon said.
“In the circumstances, the public has expressed their concerns about the enrollment to institutions like University Technology Sarawak (UTS), Swinburne University of Technology, Curtin University of Technology and i-CATS University College, which are private institutions and their tuition fees are comparatively much higher than public university like Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS) .
“If there is a termination criteria, the possibility that the free education scheme can be taken away midway of the recipient’s course, then parents are worried they will be burdened with the education fees of the private institution which may not be affordable to them,” she said.
KUCHING, Dec 25 2025: A social activist Voon Shiak Nie is seeking clarification from the state government if free tertiary education Sarawak (FTES) scheme will be terminated in the event that the students perform poorly in their examinations.
She said these are some existing concerns on the ground which call for clarification as to whether there is any termination criteria on the financial support to be provided by the government for its recipients of the scheme .
“The concerns were raised by public with reference to Public Service Department (JPA) scholarship and also Yayasan Sarawak sponsorship for university students where the continuance of the financial support is dependant on the recipient’s examination results during the course .
“For example , the scholarship or financial support will be terminated if the recipient's examination results do not meet the minimum academic requirements set by JPA .
“In other words , the privilege is conditional on the performance of the recipient throughout the course,” Voon said.
“In the circumstances, the public has expressed their concerns about the enrollment to institutions like University Technology Sarawak (UTS), Swinburne University of Technology, Curtin University of Technology and i-CATS University College, which are private institutions and their tuition fees are comparatively much higher than public university like Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS) .
“If there is a termination criteria, the possibility that the free education scheme can be taken away midway of the recipient’s course, then parents are worried they will be burdened with the education fees of the private institution which may not be affordable to them,” she said.
She said that the clarification is needed to clear the air on FTES on the issue of the existence of any termination criteria on the scheme after approval of the scheme for the applicant and the clarification is crucial for decision making.
Voon, however, said the launch of FTES by the state government is a progressive people’s centric scheme which no doubt will help a lot of families to enable their children to pursue tertiary education and it is measure applauded by all Sarawakians .
She noted that Premier Abang Johari Openg had said the scheme aimed to help families to overcome financial barriers in sending their children to universities and to build long-term human capital for Sarawak.
Voon, however, said the launch of FTES by the state government is a progressive people’s centric scheme which no doubt will help a lot of families to enable their children to pursue tertiary education and it is measure applauded by all Sarawakians .
She noted that Premier Abang Johari Openg had said the scheme aimed to help families to overcome financial barriers in sending their children to universities and to build long-term human capital for Sarawak.
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