PUTRAJAYA: The Rural and Regional Development Ministry aims to fund 450 Orang Asli students to pursue tertiary education in the country this year with an allocation of RM7.5mil, says Datuk Rubiah Wang (pic).
The Deputy Minister said the ministry is optimistic about meeting the target, noting that it successfully funded 418 Orang Asli students last year, exceeding the initial goal of 300 students.
“Such an increase makes us very proud as it demonstrates the great potential of Orang Asli children and their ability to compete with others.
“That’s why we set this target. We are confident it can be achieved to assist Orang Asli children to excel in their studies,” she said yesterday, Bernama reported.
Rubiah also highlighted various types of assistance including flight tickets to Sabah and Sarawak, a one-off financial aid of RM500 for students at the certificate, matriculation or pre-diploma level, RM700 for diploma level and RM1,000 for bachelor’s degree.
Regarding Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) opportunities, she said 62 TVET programmes were presented during retreat workshops with participation from Majlis Amanah Rakyat and the Department of Community Development to enhance educational access for the Orang Asli community continuously.
Rubiah added that the government is targeting at least 400 more applications for TVET programmes this year.
