KOTA KINABALU: The government will continue to focus on education as its most powerful tool for progress and poverty eradication, says Datuk Seri Dr Maximus Ongkili.

       The Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Sabah and Sarawak Affairs) said education provides the key to success and it turns people's weaknesses into strengths.

       “We should never use poverty as an excuse for not being able to study. Studies show that those from lower-income families have a high chance to transform their lives through proper education,” he said.

       Ongkili, who is also the Kota Marudu MP, encouraged schoolchildren to identify their talents and pursue their dreams.

       He said this during the presentation of funds to the Parent-Teacher Associations (PTAs) in Sabah's northern Kota Marudu and Kudat districts on Saturday (May 14).

       He said that the aid was meant to finance the PTAs programmes that would benefit the schoolchildren.

       A total of RM80,500 was distributed to 74 schools and a vocational college. This included 11 secondary schools, a religious secondary school, and a vocational college in Kudat, which received RM1,500 each, while RM1,000 each was given to 54 primary schools and seven religious primary schools.

       Ongkili said that over the past 10 years, more than RM500,000 in financial assistance in various forms had been given out to schools and students from his Kota Marudu parliamentary office.

       The donation is meant to help with, among others, purchase of school items, pocket money for schoolchildren from the lower-income families, food support, school visits, motivational and study method classes, and support for private rural hostels.

       “This assistance will continue to ensure our schoolchildren have a comfortable and conducive learning experience,” he said.