SANDAKAN: The Higher Education Ministry (MOHE) will launch a new 10-year higher education plan for 2025 to 2035, its deputy minister, Datuk Mustapha Sakmud said.
He added that the plan will focus on new technology, especially artificial intelligence (AI).
“We cannot run away from new technologies and now people are talking about AI engineers, we also need lawyers and accountants who understand AI, as well as preachers who understand AI.
“This is a new phenomenon and we want graduates, whether in universities or educational institutions and technical and vocational training (TVET), they come out and can adapt to future technological challenges,” he told reporters after officiating the Jom Masuk U 2025 Sabah Zone programme here today.
Twenty public universities, several private universities and two TVET institutions are participating in the two-day programme that ends tomorrow.
Meanwhile, Mustapha said students from families that had financial difficulties who wish to further their studies could agree to accept a loan advance when applying to public universities at the UPU Online website.
“An advance of RM1,500 from the National Higher Education Fund (PTPTN) will be given, which will make preparations easier, we don’t want a repeat of our students, children from Sandakan having to use gunny sacks to register,” he said.
He added that students from lower income families need not worry about university entrance fees as there was a ministry policy to defer registration fees till the student could obtain financing.
“We want to send a message that entering university comes with many federal and state incentives and the MOHE also provides facilities, we have six sponsor programmes, one of them related to helping people with disabilities,” he said.
