Sarawak deputy minister says proper planning needed to implement free tertiary education by 2026
KUCHING, Oct 18 — Education, Innovation and Talent Development Deputy Minister Datuk Dr Annuar Rapaee today said proper planning is being made to ensure the smooth implementation of free tertiary education for Sarawak students by 2026.
He said the implementation of this major policy has to take into consideration the drastic increase in the student intake to the five state-owned tertiary institutions.
“The total number of lecturers, support staff, number of hostel rooms, classrooms, laboratories and so on need to be increased to meet the increase in the intakes of the students,” he said in a statement posted on his Facebook account.
He was responding to calls among Sarawakians for the state government to start implementing free tertiary education earlier, instead of in 2026.
Dr Annuar said making the preparation is not like kneading roti canai, adding that “if we are not happy with it, we can't change the recipe immediately.”
He said the five state-owned tertiary institutions need to recruit a total of 1,300 new lecturers for the purpose.
“The details on the free tertiary education, even after we have two sessions of labs, are not complete,” he said, adding that the third session will be held next month before tabling a paper to Premier Tan Sri Abang Johari Openg for endorsement.
Dr Annuar said he feels that the two-year deadline to implement free tertiary education is rather tight.
“But since it is an instruction (from the premier), whether we like it or not, we have to work hard to ensure that it can be carried out by 2026,” he said.
He said it is not easy to produce human capital if it is not properly planned.
“We need to produce human capital for the future of the state and the people,” he said.
The five state-owned tertiary institutions are Swinburne University of Technology Sarawak campus, the Curtin University of Technology Sarawak campus, University Technology Sarawak, I-CATs University College and Centre of Technology Excellence Sarawak.
