KUCHING: Sarawak students receiving free education under the state’s free tertiary education scheme (FTES) are not tied down to any bond, says state Education, Innovation and Talent Development Minister Datuk Seri Roland Sagah.
He said the state government provided the free education “with all sincerity” and wanted to give students the freedom to find employment anywhere.
“We don’t bond them because we give them the freedom to choose. No strings attached.
“We only hope they can look for a job anywhere in the world,” Sagah told reporters after delivering his winding-up speech in the Sarawak Legislative Assembly yesterday.
He said the graduates’ ability to find a job elsewhere would be a recognition of the state-owned educational institutions.
“It means our institutions are good,” he added.
Sagah hoped that students who find jobs abroad would one day return, bringing their experience with them.
“Hopefully, by then our economy would have grown and we can give them better pay,” he said.
Earlier in his speech, Sagah told the assembly that the student intake for the four Sarawak-owned institutions of higher learning had jumped by 128.5% compared to last year prior to the rollout of FTES.
He said 3,491 students had enrolled for the 64 courses under the scheme this year, compared to 1,528 in the 2025 intake.
Sagah also told lawmakers that as of Sept 30, a total of 6,246 students had accepted the FTES at Curtin University Malaysia, i-CATS University College, Swinburne University of Technology Sarawak Campus and University of Technology Sarawak.
He said Swinburne had the most with 2,802 students, followed by University of Technology Sarawak (2,031), Curtin (949) and i-CATS (464).
Sagah reiterated that his ministry “remains committed to the continued implementation of FTES, to ensure that eligible Anak Sarawak have greater access to quality higher education, without the financial burden of tuition fees”.
The 64 courses, he said, cover a range of disciplines relevant to Sarawak’s strategic economic priorities, including the hydrogen economy, precision agriculture, data centre development and the aerospace industry.
“We are confident that this momentum will be sustained,” he added.
