Free Education for Sabah Students

The State Government has always prioritised education and human capital development of students because Sabah’s future is in the hands of the young generation. Chief Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Haji Hajiji Haji Noor said that the State Government has boosted the state revenue to RM7 billion, an unprecedented achievement. Therefore, Sabah can afford to allocate more funds for education.

“Since 2021, the State Government has spent more than RM1.3 billion in the education sector, the largest allocation in Sabah’s history, marking the government’s strong commitment to the youths,” Hajiji said at the Sabah Undergraduates Convention on 21 September 2025 at the KDCA Hall, Penampang.

“We have rolled out more than 14 education initiatives including a one-off RM600 aid for students pursuing studies in Malaya, Sarawak and Labuan through the GRS-SubFly programme, and a RM300-assistance under the SENTOSA initiative for students studying within the state.” SENTOSA (or Sumbangan Mahasiswa Pengajian Tinggi Dalam Negeri) is one of Sabah’s education programmes to assist students.

The State Government has increased the scholarship fund to RM136 million in 2025, the largest since independence, and it has established the Sabah State Education Fund (Tabung Pendidikan Negeri Sabah or TPNS) to help students who are having financial challenges. Hajiji announced at the convention that the government is now planning to provide free education for students pursuing further studies at state-owned learning institutions, namely, the University College Yayasan Sabah (UCSF) and Kolej Teknologi Yayasan Sabah (KTYS) and to provide loan subsidies, particularly for PTPTN (Perbadanan Tabung Pendidikan Tinggi Nasional) study loans and Yayasan Sabah study loans, to ease students’ debt burden.

“The Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) Government is committed to assist Sabah children in their education and career journey,” Hajiji said. The GRS performance in attracting investment has reshaped Sabah’s economy, with Sabah recording the third-highest investment inflows in Malaysia. The promising economic track record has enabled the SMJ Development Blueprint - an inclusive and comprehensive development plan – to successfully enhance significant progress in Sabah. Besides education, the SMJ initiative include free SMJ Friendly Homes for the hardcore poor and poor groups, and the Sentuhan Kasih Rakyat (SYUKUR) initiative, which provides monthly assistance of RM300 for 12 months to 100,000 recipients.

Sabah’s unemployment rate has declined from 8.2 per cent in 2020 to 6.2 per cent in the second quarter of 2025 and many Sabah youths have better access to stable jobs, Hajiji added. The Chief Minister said that Sabahans, including the 970,000 young voters, must make the right choice in choosing the government. Choose continuity of development, political stability, and the well-being of Sabah, choose a government dominated by local parties, the GRS in the soon to be held 17th State Election.