KUALA LUMPUR OCT.17: The Ministry of Communications and Multimedia (K-KOMM) is searching for a mechanism of how to distribute the computer devices to all 474,311 applicants nationwide under the PerantiSiswa Keluarga Malaysia before end of November 2022.
Its Minister, Tan Sri Annuar Musa said, currently the application involving 279,188 students had been processed and approved and that is only 58.9 per cent from the total number of applicants.
Annuar said, the distribution of the computers is no more in campuses but to schools nationwide based on zones. To date only 8.3 per cent had been distributed while the stock stays at 350,000 in the warehouse.
“I hope the distribution via centres could be achieved by the end of this month and the target distribution for all is end of November. Among others, 42,200 sets have been sent to Sabah and Sarawak, more than 18,000 to east zone and 15,000 to the south zone.
“We are suggesting the distribution of the computers will be made at the same time nationwide covering all the zones. Applicants could only collect their computers in the zone where they applied.
“Colleges and universities have been opened and the PerantiSiswa could be distributed now but on the other hand polytechnics have started their holidays and students have gone back to their hometowns,” he said at a press conference held here today.
Meanwhile, the problem to distribute the computers will arise when the schools nationwide start their holidays.
Annuar hopes 270,000 units could be distributed this month.
The PerantiSiswa Keluarga Malaysia is a government initiative aimed at helping full-time B40 students/undergraduates to continue their studies at the tertiary level and it includes 1) Students/undergraduates from any IPTAs in Malaysia; 2) Students at Teachers’Education Institute, students attending Malaysian Matriculation Colleges and Sijil Tinggi Persekolahan Malaysia (STPM) under Minstry of Education (MOE); 3) Foundation students both in private and public universities under the Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE) and 4) Students of ASWARA under the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture (MOTAC).
The objective of the PerantiSiswa is to assist eligible students from B40 families to gain digital access to study materials in their respective institutions and it is one of the government’s efforts to bridge the digital divide by improving the accessibility to digital devices, especially for B40 students. -Malaysia World News
