Kota Kinabalu: The proposed closure of Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) Sabah Branch, Tawau Campus, is feared will affect higher education opportunities for the Bumiputera community, particularly in Sabah’s east coast, which has long relied on the institution to pursue further studies.
UiTM Sabah Alumni Association President Azhar Matussin said the proposal to close the campus and centralise its operations at UiTM’s main campus in Kota Kinabalu would burden students from Tawau, Lahad Datu, Kunak, Semporna and surrounding areas.
He said the campus, which has been operating for three decades since 1996, played an important role in expanding access to higher education for the Bumiputera community, including through its pre-diploma programme, which offers a second chance to students who fail to secure places at other public higher education institutions.
“Closing Tawau would mean forcing students from Sabah’s east coast to leave home again to pursue their studies. This is a step backwards,” he said, Thursday.
Azhar said academic and hostel facilities at the main campus were already facing capacity constraints, raising concerns that students from Sabah’s east coast would find it more difficult to secure places if Tawau Campus ceased operations.
He said UiTM Tawau, which initially operated from a shoplot before moving to its permanent campus in 2006, had enabled many Bumiputera students to pursue higher education and advance to higher levels of study.
Azhar said the association did not oppose the proposed establishment of a polytechnic in Tawau and instead supported any efforts to expand higher education facilities in the district but stressed that the establishment of a new institution should not result in the closure of UiTM Tawau.
He said the association had submitted an official letter to Sabah State Finance Minister Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun on Aug 24, seeking a comprehensive review of any proposal to close the campus or scale down its operations.
He added that UiTM Tawau also had the potential to be developed into a centre of excellence in agribusiness and agricultural entrepreneurship, in line with the strengths of the agriculture and plantation sectors in Sabah’s east coast.
