UTeM vice-chancellor Prof Dr Massila Kamalrudin said 18-year-old Nabilah Zainuddin was earlier given a place in the university to pursue a diploma in manufacturing engineering but she was unable to take up the offer due to her family's financial constraints.
"We gave special attention to this student after we received news that she was unable to continue her tertiary education due to her family's financial difficulties," she said after visiting Nabilah and her parents at their house in Alai here on Monday . Dr Massila said Nabilah's 54-year-old father, Zainuddin Hassan, recently had heart surgery and had to visit the National Heart Institute in Kuala Lumpur frequently for follow-up treatment.
She said the student's father, who is a security guard, and her mother Siti Noormasurah Ahmad, 49, who does odd jobs, had also been diagnosed with another ailment recently.Dr Massila said UTeM decided to support Nabilah by waiving her first semester fees of RM914 and give her a monthly allowance of RM500 so she can be a student at the university's Durian Tunggal campus.