Has Hariff is a step closer to realising her ambition to become a doctor when she received a scholarship from Masterskill College of Nursing and Health.

The college, under its corporate social responsibility programme, will sponsor her the secondary school education of Has, the Orang Asli girl who scored 5As in the UPSR examination.

The scholarship worth RM15,000 was presented to her during a dinner held recently at Menara Kuala Lumpur and witnessed by Deputy Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Datuk S. Veerasingam.

Has, a 12-year-old pupil of Sekolah Kebangsaan Batu 7, made news in November last year when she obtained 5As in her UPSR examination despite her home having no electricity or water supply.

She was one of the five Orang Asli students in Perak to score 5As in the examination.

“Touched by her discipline, dedication and will to succeed, Masterskill is committed to sponsor her secondary school education. We have committed a total amount of RM15,000 with RM3,000 per year for a period of five years,” said Masterskill’s chairman Datuk Dr Mohd Yahya Nordin.

“We hope she will continue to perform and succeed, becoming an example for other Orang Asli students,” he said.

Veerasingam, who is also the MP for Tapah in Perak, said the number of Orang Asli students who excelled in the UPSR examination was relatively small.

He said although there has been an increase from 11 in 2005 to 17 in 2006, the number of orang asli pupils who obtained 5As and 4As in the UPSR examination is still considered as low.

“Successful Orang Asli in various professions are just as limited, with only 255 of them. I believe there is a need to create further awareness on the importance of having good education and steady careers among the Orang Asli community,” he said.

“I hope this story of Has will motivate others to strive for betterment,” he added.

Thanking the college for the scholarship, Has said: “It is a very big contribution for my family and this will help lighten our burden.”

“This financial aid brings me a step closer to my ambition, which is to become a doctor. I will make Masterskill and the Orang Asli community proud,” she said with determination.

– BERNAMA

This entry was posted by Taman Siswa on Thursday, February 8, 2007 at 12:57 am and is filed under Education News, Scholarship. Tags: College, Education News, Financial Aid, Scholarship, Student, . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.