KOTA KINABALU: Sabah's commitment to human capital development is reflected through the allocation of RM474.55mil next year, said Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor.
"This is a priority for human capital development programmes, among them scholarship and education grants," said the Chief Minister.
Hajiji said the state government has introduced several initiatives to ease the burden of youths pursuing tertiary education, such as the one-off cash assistance to pay for their registration fees under the Bantuan Pendaftaran IPT (Budi) programme.
"The initiatives were being taken because the needs and welfare of students are top on the state government's agenda," he said at the closing ceremony of the inter-private higher education institution (IPTS) Games (Masiswa Games) Sabah Zone 2023 at the University College Sabah Foundation (UCSF), here on Saturday (Dec 2) night.
Hajiji, who is also UCSF Chancellor, called on undergraduates to continue supporting the state's development process through the Hala Tuju Sabah Maju Jaya (SMJ) plan.
On the latest development of UCSF, the Chief Minister said he fully supported the university's plan to set up campuses outside of Kota Kinabalu.
On another matter, Hajiji said the Masiswa was the best platform for moulding the "thinking athlete".
1,600 athletes and officials from 17 institutions converged for four days at the host campus, UCSF, to compete in nine events.
"I am glad to see the cooperation and involvement of private higher education institutions (IPTS) in Sabah. Keep up the cooperation and sportsmanship," he said.
