UTeM comes to aid of financially-strapped student

MELAKA: A financially-stricken student's dream to be an engineer is one step closer to a reality after Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka (UTeM) decided to waive her first semester fees and give her an allowance.

UTeM vice-chancellor Prof Dr Massila Kamalrudin said 18-year-old Nabilah Zainuddin was earlier given a place in the university to pursue a diploma in manufacturing engineering but she was unable to take up the offer due to her family's financial constraints.

"We gave special attention to this student after we received news that she was unable to continue her tertiary education due to her family's financial difficulties," she said after visiting Nabilah and her parents at their house in Alai here on Monday (Aug 7).

Dr Massila said Nabilah's 54-year-old father, Zainuddin Hassan, recently had heart surgery and had to visit the National Heart Institute (IJN) in Kuala Lumpur frequently for follow-up treatment.

She said the student's father, who is a security guard, and her mother Siti Noormasurah Ahmad, 49, who does odd jobs, had also been diagnosed with another ailment recently.

"This forced Nabilah to shelve her ambition to pursue tertiary education," she said.

Dr Massila said UTeM decided to support Nabilah by waiving her first semester fees of RM914 and give her a monthly allowance of RM500 so she can be a student at the university's Durian Tunggal campus.

Nabilah, who is the second of four siblings, thanked UTeM for helping her to fulfil her ambitions.

"I've always wanted to be an engineer, but unfortunately, both my parents fell ill and all my siblings are still studying," she said.

Nabilah said she hopes to continue her education and obtain her degree.

"I wish to see my parents retire peacefully once I start working," she said, adding her dad was delighted to see UTeM's top official visiting her home.

Nabilah registered as a student for the course on the same day.