TYT: Sabah committed to raising education quality to produce knowledgeable society

KOTA KINABALU, April 11 (Bernama) -- The Yang di-Pertua Negeri Sabah Tun Juhar Mahiruddin said the state government is committed to raising the quality of education to produce knowledgeable and a highly-educated society as well as to close the gap between students in the rural and urban areas.

He said among the efforts taken were building and improving schools, especially dilapidated schools, increasing Internet coverage to schools, providing adequate equipment and facilities, offering scholarships and educational assistance as well as creating a student data base to ensure no student was left out from receiving grants, bursaries and loans.

“To help reduce the burden of the low income group, the government has set aside a 20 percent quota for the state government scholarships to be given to applicants from B40 families,” he said in his keynote address when officially launching the first meeting of the second session of the Sabah State Legislative Assembly here today.

Meanwhile, he said the government also emphasised on the development of women in the state in spearheading the state’s growth.

“Therefore, the government has set that at least 20 percent of women are appointed at the decision-making level as members of the Local Authorities Council (PBT).

“In addition, the government has also set up a Women’s Legal Aid Centre, comprising legal advice and aid and to represent them in court,” he said.

-- BERNAMA