Air ticket subsidy for 15,000 Sabahan students

KOTA KINABALU (July 2): Some 15,000 Sabahan students studying at higher learning institutes in Peninsular Malaysia, Sarawak and Labuan benefit from the RM600 air ticket subsidy from the state government.

Sabah Education Exco Datuk Dr Mohd Arifin Mohd Arif said most of the subsidy applications have been approved since Ramadan month, while the remaining 300 will be completed by this month.

“The special one-off flight ticket assistance was announced and started during the Ramadan month, where most of the applications, especially under the state government, Yayasan Sabah and MUIS scholarships have been processed.

“Meanwhile, students without scholarship also received the same amount and it was given in stages. Previously 8,000 applications were completed. The latest number of application was also around 8,000.

“At the moment, only about 300 students are still waiting for the payment process which will be completed by July,” said Arifin, who is also the Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation.

Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor made the subsidy announcement during his visit to Penang in March, where he joined Sabahan students breaking fast.

The assistance is from the Chief Minister’s special allocation.