KOTA KINABALU: The Sabah State Education Fund (TPNS) will be launched next month, Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor said.

He said the fund was established to allow more opportunities for Sabahan children to further their studies at institutions of higher learning either locally or abroad.

"The establishment of TPNS is one of the initiatives in the Sabah Foundation Group's Strategic Transformation Plan 2015-2023.

"The effort is also in line with one of the thrusts of the Sabah Maju Jaya Roadmap (SMJ) which is to increase human capital development and the well-being of the people," he said when officiating the Sabah Teachers' Day Celebration at the Sabah International Convention Centre (SICC) here today. 

The Sabah State Legislative Assembly had on Dec 9, 2021 unanimously passed the Government Trust Fund (amendment) Enactment 2021, which allocates funds for Education in Sabah. The enactment came into force on Jan 1, 2022.

Hajiji said several initiatives were implemented by the Sabah government to support the development of education in the state.

"This includes donating 10,000 laptops to Form Five and Six students in Sabah.

"In the 2022 Sabah Budget, the government also allocated the school social assistance such as uniforms, shoes and stationeries for 289,204 students with an allocation of RM13.9 million.

"The state government is also committed to continuing with the special education assistance introduced in 2021, namely the Institute of Higher Learning Registration Cash Assistance (BUDI) and the Special Examination Cash Assistance (BAKTI) which involve allocations of RM17.5 million," he said.

He added that 5,000 students had received the BUDI assistance and 40,000 students enjoyed the BAKTI assistance last year.

The state government had also introduced the funding assistance for more than 1,500 Parents Teachers Associations (PTAs) in Sabah in an initiative called BAGUS and assistance for computer equipment in schools called BISBAH.

"We are also focusing on vernacular schools and non-Muslim religious bodies in the state, with a total of RM47 million allocated for non-Muslim religious bodies as well as vernacular schools, missionaries and private schools in Sabah this year.

"It reflects the sincerity of the government to ensure the welfare (and interest) of all races and religions in Sabah will be taken care of, "he said.

Hajiji also took the opportunity to congratulate all educators in Sabah who have successfully undertaken the challenging tasks during the Covid-19 pandemic.

At the ceremony, Hajiji also presented the 2022 Tokoh Guru Award to Datuk Dr Nuinda Alias while Madaile Basri took home the Tokoh Kepimpinan Award.

He also launched the Sabah Teachers' Prominent Figures Book published by the Sabah State Education Department.