Kota Kinabalu: Sabah Wanita MCA has awarded more than RM65 million in student loans to 15,000 underprivileged youths in the State pursuing tertiary education.
Its Chairman Datuk Dr Pamela Yong said the TARC-MCA Sabah Wanita Student Loan Fund, initiated in 1979, is an interest-free revolving fund for Sabah students.
“It is our commitment and our aim for Sabahan students to benefit from the fund as education plays an important role in helping people out of poverty and building a nation,” she said during the Sabah Wanita MCA annual general meeting.
She said Sabah Wanita MCA would raise the funds annually to ensure more Sabah children could benefit.
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“We have seen the Tunku Abdul Rahman University of Management and Technology (TAR-UMT) branch being set up with a campus offering tertiary education for 3,000 students. The fees are also 40pc cheaper than institutes of higher learning,” she stressed.
The TAR-UMT Student Loan Fund was established to help needy and deserving students to pursue and complete tertiary education.
Graduates are urged to repay their loans promptly to ensure that the fund can continue providing loans to current and incoming students.
Pamela said the TAR-UMT Student Loan Fund, totalling RM346,000, was offered to 25 students for the academic years 2023 and 2024.
At the same time, she said bursary scholarships for needy and Indigenous Sabahans, totalling RM380,000, were awarded to 13 students.
“Since 2016, the bursary scholarship totalling RM860,000 has benefited 37 Sabahan students,” she said.
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