Sabah plans to elevate local varsity to global standard, says Jeffrey

 

Yayasan Sabah, which has been heavily reliant on timber money, now faces financial woes, thus affecting University College Sabah Foundation as well.

KOTA KINABALU: The Sabah state government is determined to steer University College Sabah Foundation (UCSF) out of its financial woes and elevate it to be a global institution.

The UCSF has been so badly hit financially that it has been forced to cut its staff’s salaries by half.

Deputy chief minister Jeffrey Kitingan said the problem right now was that the university was financially dependent on its parent company, the state-owned Yayasan Sabah.

As such, the key now is to nurse the foundation’s financial capabilities back to a healthier level by going into the digital industry.

“Yayasan Sabah is heavily reliant on timber money. The system worked previously but now, we are moving forward,” he said in a statement today.

“The way forward is to conserve and protect our natural resources rather than deplete or cut them down.”

As a former Yayasan Sabah director, Kitingan said the foundation was an institution to be proud of but UCSF’s financial concerns were affecting the foundation’s credibility.

He said the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah government now had a vision to lift the university’s standard to a global level.

“The future is digital, especially with more and more conventional jobs being replaced by automation. The UCSF has the responsibility of preparing our younger generation to be future technopreneurs,” he said.

Yesterday, Sabah chief minister Hajiji Noor had promised to resolve the 50% pay cut issue imposed on the UCSF staff as soon as possible.

A spokesperson for the 146 college staff affected by the pay cut said they received only half of their salaries since September 2020, and requested the Sabah government to intervene. - FMT