Pasir mas: Driven by a desire to repay her grandmother's lifelong sacrifices, 20-year-old Nurul Atiqah Husna Azli has turned her academic dreams into reality by securing a place at university.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, the Pasir Mas, Kelantan, native said her grandmother, Noriah Muhammad Zain, 66, worked as a school cleaner to ensure she received a proper education, especially after her grandfather, Abd Ghani Musa, 70, could not work following a road accident in 2007.
Nurul Atiqah Husna is now determined to repay those sacrifices after securing a place to pursue a Bachelor of Education (History) degree at Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM). "My grandmother worked as a cleaner at a primary school, the very school I attended. She was the sole breadwinner, bearing the full responsibility of raising me, enabling me to further my studies at the tertiary level," she said when met during the registration session for new USM undergraduates for the 2026/2027 Academic Session here today.
However, Nurul Atiqah Husna's higher education dream was nearly dampened by financial constraints, especially after her grandmother recently stopped working. Financial constraints initially left the family unable to afford a laptop for her academic needs, but her plight eased after several parties stepped forward to sponsor the device. She also worked part-time as a live-stream host from April to August to cover her expenses, determined not to rely entirely on her grandparents.
Noriah, meanwhile, said she was moved upon seeing her granddaughter enter tertiary education and expressed hope that she would excel in her studies and build a successful future.
USM vice-chancellor Prof Datuk Seri Ir Dr Abdul Rahman Mohamed said the university welcomed 5,804 new students for full-time bachelor's degree and diploma programmes across all admission channels for the 2026/2027 Academic Session. He said out of the total, 3,913 students were placed at the Main campus, 1,201 at the Engineering campus, and 690 at the Health campus. Additionally, 4,904 candidates out of 37,171 applications submitted via the UPU central admission system secured places across 79 study programmes.
Abdul Rahman added that 2,241 candidates, or 46 per cent of the total students offered places through the UPU channel, belong to the B40 category, whilst 216 students received offers under the Siswa Sulung programme, involving a RM2.16 million allocation. He added that USM also offered places to 999 international candidates from 37 countries, 17 persons with disabilities (PWDs), eight Orang Asli students, and 16 state and national athletes for this academic session.