SIBU: University of Technology Sarawak (UTS) — as the main subscriber of both online Press Reader and Britannica — has extended the use of the two resources to Kolej Laila Taib (KLT) and Woodlands International School.
According to UTS vice-chancellor Prof Datuk Dr Khairuddin Abdul Hamid, the extension would cover both KLT and Woodlands without additional charges or subscription fees.
“It is a joint corporate social responsibility (CSR) effort with University Books Store (M) Sdn Bhd (UBS).
“I think this is the first and unique partnership between institutes of higher learning here in Sarawak and a private company in providing wider access to online digital academic and non-academic resources to staff and students,” he said.
Prof Khairuddin said this in his welcoming speech during the ceremony here on Thursday (Jan 19).
Meanwhile, Sarawak Deputy Minister for Education, Innovation and Talent Development, Datuk Dr Annuar Rapaee congratulated both UTS and UBS on this initiative.
“I wish that it can be further extended to others, especially Form 6 students. We have a few schools (in Sibu) which are also top in Malaysia. I’m sure they will benefit a lot, particularly when Form 6 is now also known as the pre-university programme.”
Dr Annuar stressed the importance of cultivating a reading culture among the younger generation as “nobody can gain knowledge without reading a book.”
“In the future when we have full Internet coverage, we might fully switch from physical books to online reading. However, people need to have an interest in reading, something that is cultivated from a young age,” he added.
Also present were UBS managing director Keith Thong Yuet Sheng, KLT chief executive officer Eric Wong Kwong Lee and Woodlands International School principal Yong Choo Tiong.
