1.2 million tertiary students to get RM100 aid from govt

At 9.07 am(0107 Malaysian tme), the local unit stood at 4.1740/1770 against the greenback from Wednesday's close of 4.1730/1760.

PETALING JAYA: Malaysian tertia­ry students will receive RM100 from the government to ease their financial burden.

The aid will be disbursed at the end of next month, the Finance Ministry said in a statement.

The relief was reinstated based on the Educa­tion Ministry’s recommendations and some 1.2 million students are expected to benefit from the RM120mil aid allocation.

The move was in line with the government’s announcement on Feb 20 that three million eligible single Malaysians would get RM100 each under the cost of living aid.

“This is to reduce the financial burden of students in higher education institutions. Disbursement will be made using the existing Bank Rakyat debit card mechanism.

“Implementation details and eligibility criteria will be announced by the Education Ministry at a later date,” it said.

In 2017, the previous government replaced its book voucher scheme for tertiary students with the Kad Diskaun Siswa 1Malaysia.

The debit card preloaded with RM250 was marketed by the Do­m­es­tic Trade, Cooperatives and Con­su­me­rism Ministry through Bank Rakyat.

While welcoming the aid, a postgraduate student from Universiti Malaya hoped the amount could be increased to RM250.

“I don’t mean to sound greedy but books are so pricey. Even going for a seminar costs RM250 to RM400,” the student said.

Melaka Action Group for Parents in Education chairman Mak Chee Kin said the aid would mean a lot to the B40 group.

Educationist Datuk N. Siva Subra­maniam said although the amount was less than before, the move showed the government’s sincerity in wanting to help.

“It is not solely the responsibility of the government to help the people, as the corporate sector and successful individuals too can come forward,” he said.