By Ling Hui
KUCHING, Nov 9: School vouchers worth RM150 per month will be given to 5,600 secondary school students in Sarawak for their tuition fees.
This was announced by Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg when he tabled the Supply (2021) Bill, 2020 which is also State Budget 2021 at the State Legislative Assembly (DUN) sitting here today.
“In tandem with the government’s objective to create a greater pool of high-performance students including those from the low-income group, I am pleased to announce that the state government will provide RM10 million next year (2021) in the form of school vouchers to assist in funding the students’ tuition fees.
“The assistance is up to a maximum of RM150 per month or RM1,800 per year per secondary student,” he said, adding that this initiative is expected to benefit about 5,600 secondary students and will be coordinated by Yayasan Sarawak.
For primary schools in Sarawak, Abang Johari said an additional RM10 million will be provided for the continuance of the programme in providing engineering and mathematics (STEM) resources.
This amounts to a total of RM15 million for 2021 on top of the RM5.2 million spent in 2020.
“As a strategic effort to enhance the scientific and technological capabilities of our students in future, we (state government) have embarked on the teaching of Mathematics and Science subjects in English in all government schools in Sarawak.
“Under this initiative, the state government has allocated a sum of RM5.2 million this year to provide 1,265 primary schools in the state with STEM resources in English.
“For next year, another RM15.0 million will be provided for the continuation of this programme,” said Abang Johari. — DayakDaily
