GEORGE TOWN: A TOTAL of 122 underprivileged students registered to further their studies in Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) recently.
The students, whose family household income is RM500 monthly, received scholarships and allowances from the university.
One of them was Nik Muhammad Mustaqim Zahari, 20, who hails from Kelantan and had always dreamt of furthering his studies at the tertiary level.
His desire to study at a university arose as his siblings couldn’t do so due to financial constraints.
“My parents are rubber tappers. I have five siblings and it is hard for my parents to support us with such an income.
“I want to improve my family’s living condition. That is why I worked hard to get here.
“I want to make my parents proud and leave with my head held high,” he said, adding that he wants to be a lecturer in the future.
Nik said he was encouraged to enter the university by his teacher, who had been supporting him since he was in secondary school.
USM Vice-Chancellor Prof Datuk Omar Osman said it was the university’s corporate social responsibility to help the underprivileged.
“We welcome them to this university and we will try to assist them the best we can,” he said after attending the students’ oath-taking ceremony in Dewan Tuanku Syed Putra.
The new academic session in USM has seen more than 4,000 registrations in all USM campuses on the island, Nibong Tebal and Kubang Kerian.