KUCHING: Sarawakian students who have just obtained their Sijil Tinggi Persekolahan Malaysia (STPM) results should consider furthering their studies at state-owned universities, says Datuk Seri Roland Sagah.
The state Education, Innovation and Talent Development Minister Datuk Seri Roland Sagah urged them to take advantage of Sarawak's free tertiary education scheme (FTES), which currently covers 64 courses at i-CATS University College, Curtin University Malaysia, Swinburne University of Technology Sarawak and University of Technology Sarawak.
More importantly, he said their presence would also help to improve the universities' rankings.
"If you are really good, you will be the one doing research. And you will give a good name to our local universities so that we can be rated as among the best in the region," he said when announcing the state STPM results here on Friday (June 19).
Sagah also said his ministry was actively pursuing talent development to meet Sarawak's economic goals under the state's post-Covid development strategy.
"We just had a meeting with the state Education Department to find ways to make us better for the future, how we're going to improve our economy further with the right people and talent," he said.
Sagah said Sarawak recorded a higher cumulative grade point average (CGPA) of 2.75 for STPM 2025 compared to 2.65 in 2024.
A total of 115 students achieved a perfect CGPA of 4.0, while two obtained 5As and 110 obtained 4As.
In addition, Kolej Tingkatan Enam Saratok and SMK Sacred Heart, Sibu, were named the national best Form Six centres for STPM 2025 in the Form Six college and Mode Two and Three categories respectively.
Mode Two refers to schools with at least 12 Form Six classes while Mode 3 schools have fewer than 12 Form Six classes or are located in rural areas.
"This shows that our schools are competitive and capable of producing promising results," Sagah said.
