SHELL Malaysia will set aside about 10% of its scholarships specifically for disabled students from this year onwards.

At its recent Scholarship and Student Excellence Awards, chairman Anuar Talib said: “In conjunction with the centenary celebrations of our upstream operations in Miri this year, we offered scholarships for disabled students in Sarawak.

The company’s human resource director Leslie Hayward shared that these scholarships were “over and above” the scholarships they normally award for tertiary studies.

“Our normal scholarships are also open to disabled students, but we don’t see these students applying for them,” he said.
Dr Wee (right) checking out the certificates he presented to the scholarship recipients, as Anuar (third from right) looks on.

Hayward added that the scholarships are not only for tertiary studies, but could also include further vocational and technical training.

Deputy Education Minister Datuk Dr Wee Ka Siong, who presented the awards, said that Shell was making a huge contribution to the nation through this corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiative.

According to Anuar, Shell Malaysia committed RM14.5mil for their scholarship programme this year.

A total of 30 full scholarships were awarded for pre-university and first degree courses during the awards ceremony in Kuala Lumpur two weeks ago.

A total of 20 scholarships were for students in local universities, while the remaining 10 were for students studying abroad.

Said Anuar: “Our selection of scholars involves a rigorous process in which candidates are chosen based on a wide range of criteria.

“A string of A’s is only one of the criteria for selection.”

He added that its scholars needed to be creative and active in extra-curricular activities and had to demonstrate the ability to think independently.

He shared that the company would provide opportunities to those from less fortunate backgrounds to enable them to fulfil their potential.

In addition, 71 students from all over the country received cash awards of RM750 each for scoring in the recent Penilaian Menengah Rendah (PMR), Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) and Sijil Tinggi Persekolahan Malaysia (STPM) exams.