Sagah: No plans to extend free education scheme to federal universities

KUCHING (Dec 1): The Sarawak government has no plans at this time to extend the Free Tertiary Education Scheme (FTES) to Sarawakian students studying at federal universities nationwide, said Education, Innovation and Talent Development Minister Dato Sri Roland Sagah Wee Inn.

He said that while the suggestion to widen the coverage to public universities across Malaysia had been raised, such an expansion is not viable under the current policy framework.

“For the information of the Honourable Member for Padungan, the proposal to extend FTES to include all Sarawakian students attending universities across Malaysia, including University Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas) and Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM), is not feasible under current policy,” he said when winding up his ministerial speech at the State Legislative Assembly (DUN) Sitting here.

He was responding to Chong Chieng Jen’s (DAP-Padungan) call for fair treatment towards B40 Sarawakian households with children pursuing undergraduate studies at public universities.

Sagah explained that federal public universities (IPTA) already impose very minimal fees, making them accessible and affordable for most students.

“Unimas and UiTM still fall outside the financial and administrative jurisdiction of the Sarawak government’s FTES.

“Implementing a tuition-free scheme for these federal institutions nationwide would require a policy decision and funding from the federal government and the Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE),” he said.

He stressed that Sarawak is maintaining a focused approach by strategically investing in its own higher learning institutions to enhance quality, boost enrolment, and align academic programmes.

“This is especially in critical sectors like Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM), Law, Medicine, Accounting, and Finance, in line with the state’s specific economic and talent development needs,” he added.

On the Special Financial Assistance (BKK), Sagah said a total of RM58.77 million has been disbursed to Yayasan Sarawak.

“To date, 40,378 deserving students who applied and met the eligibility criteria have received the assistance.

“Crucially, I am pleased to confirm our commitment to extending this assistance throughout 2026,” he said.

Chong in his debate on the 2026 State Budget last week, had called for the government to treat all Sarawakian university undergraduate students equally, regardless of whether they are studying at the state-owned universities, public universities or other private universities in the country.

“Though the federal government does subsidise 90 per cent of the tuition fees of the students studying in Unimas and UiTM and all other public universities, for those students coming from B40 families, the accommodation and living expenses are also as much a financial burden to them as those students studying in the Sarawak state-government-owned universities,” he said.