Kota Kinabalu: The Sabah Islamic Religious Council (Muis) has spent about RM18 million so far this year on almost 2,000 young Sabahans pursuing studies locally and abroad, said Sabah Education and Islamic Affairs Exco Datuk Dr Mohd Arifin Mohd Arif.
Most of them are taking up Islamic Studies (Usuluddin), Syariah and Arab language, among others, in Egypt and Jordan.
“Muis, through its Zakat dan Fitrah division, is spending the allocation as DermaSiswa to qualified amounting to RM9,000 per year for each student.
“The division also helps with monetary assistance to pay for their airfares and registration,” he said after sending off 14 students to study in Al-Azhar, Egypt and several universities in Jordan, at the Kota Kinabalu International Airport (KKIA), Wednesday.
Six received Dermasiswa from Muis to pursue their studies in Egypt, while the remaining eight in Jordan are using own funds.
Dr Mohd Arifin, who is also Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, said Muis spent about RM20 million last year.
“With the increase of people’s awareness to pay for zakat, the amount of collection will grow which contributes to further assisting our students in the field of education.
“In addition to Muis, we (State Government) are also increasing the allocation for education whereby our Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor has raised the amount of funding for the State Government Scholarship (BKNS) from RM50 million to RM113 million, solely to help Sabahans’ education wellbeing and welfare,” he said.
Currently, Dr Mohd Arifin said around 5,000 young Sabahans are receiving assistance, including the 10 education initiatives such as the one-off aid, study support, university registration fees and more.
He said the State Government has allocated RM45 million for the 10 types of initiatives for education development like Bantuan Ihsan Komputer (Baik); Bantuan Wang Pendaftaran IPT (Budi); Bantuan Khas Tunai Peperiksaan (Bakti); Sabah Parents Teachers Association Activity Assistance (Bagus); Bantuan Ihsan for Sabah Schools (Bisbah); Sabah Education Excellence Award (Aksa).
Bantuan Ihsan Tabungan Pendidik Negeri (Bistari) for every newborn Sabahan starting 2022, receiving RM100 to open a National Education Savings Scheme account through the National Education Savings Scheme (SSPN), which is part of the Government’s efforts, with approximately RM500 million allocated this year and last year, to support and strengthen education development for Sabahans.
Dr Mohd Arifin said the State Government is discussing ways to help those heading for Jordan as living cost in Jordan is quite high compared to Egypt.
He said the Chief Minister visited Sabah students studying in Jordan last year and gave a one-off fund of RM20,000 to them.
To a question, Dr Mohd Arifin said so far, the Sabahans studying in Egypt and Jordan are not involved in any doubtful teachings or associations, as they are following the teachings of Ahlus Sunnah Wal Jamaah (ASWL) there.
