The number of students entering Universiti Teknologi Sarawak (UTS) is expected to increase for the new intake in September, says UTS Vice-Chancellor, Prof Datuk Dr Khairuddin Abdul Hamid.

He said the minimum number of new students for the foundation programme alone was 500 people.

According to him, UTS accepted about 1,900 new students last year, compared to only about 600 the previous year.

Therefore, he said UTS was currently holding interview sessions for academic and non-academic staff to accommodate the increase in the number of students at the university.

"The number of staff hired is according to needs, for example, the number of students in the foundation programme has increased dramatically so we will hire three or four lecturers and one or two workers for support," he said when met at the Raya and Pre Gawai programme at the UTS campus here today.

Khairuddin said the university also planned to increase the number of dormitories to accommodate more students in the future, adding that the proposal had already been forwarded to the university’s board.

UTS has almost 3,000 students at present.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency