KOTA KINABALU: Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor said today that most household heads categorised under the hardcore poverty group lacked academic qualifications.
Responding to assemblymen's questions during the state assembly session about meeting the deadline to eradicate hardcore poverty in Sabah, Hajiji said the state government was striving to create job opportunities for the group.
"However, various factors need to be considered such as productivity levels and the education level of the hardcore poor."
As of Sept 13 2023, Sabah had 22,510 household heads classified in the eKasih system for the Hardcore Poverty Eradication Programme.
According to the analysis, Hajiji said that 9,356 household heads, representing 42 per cent, had no academic qualifications.
The study also revealed that 4,601 (20 per cent) had only completed education up to the Ujian Pencapaian Sekolah Rendah (UPSR); 3,690 (16 per cent) had completed education up to the Penilaian Menengah Rendah (PMR); and 4,725 (21 per cent) had attained education up to the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM).
Only one per cent (269 heads of household) had received education up to the Sijil Tinggi Persekolahan Malaysia (STPM) and skills certificate.
As of June 30 this year, out of the remaining 5,379 household heads categorised as hardcore poor, 35 per cent (1,919 individuals) lacked education certificates.
"Based on these statistics, it illustrates the difficulty for the hardcore poor to compete in the job market due to the lack of formal education certificates.
"Therefore, the job opportunities that can be provided are limited," Hajiji said.
He added that the Sabah government provided one-off assistance to 5,767 households to enable them to continue their higher education studies, with each individual receiving RM2,000 to alleviate household expenses.
The Sabah government also provided special examination cash assistance to support 6,737 hardcore poor household members, and laptop grant assistance to 710 households pursuing higher education.
The Sabah education savings grant also benefited 2,865 Sabah-born babies, with the majority of beneficiaries coming from the hardcore poor group.