KOTA KINABALU: The Education Ministry will ensure none of its schools or learning institutions that are dilapidated in the state will be sidelined with respect to receiving much-needed allocations for repairs.
Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek said the ministry would make it a point to distribute the funds allocated under Budget 2023 accordingly so that old buildings or related matters would be addressed fairly.
"We are assessing the situation so that the disbursement (of funds) can be done equitably," she said to reporters, after closing a Digital Learning Convention held by the Sabah Education Department here on Saturday (Feb 25).
"We will make sure everyone gets their fair share. Our projections will take into account several formulas so that no one is ignored from the list.
"But those who will receive will surely be those who really need the funds," she added.
The Budget 2023 tabled by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim on Friday (Feb 24) saw the government focus on education with the Education Ministry getting the biggest slice of the pie with a total allocation of RM55.2bil.
Anwar, who was also Finance Minister, said this included RM2.3bil for the upgrade of dilapidated school buildings and infrastructures in 380 poor schools, maintenance of school amenities and building of OKU-friendly amenities, and building of open halls for school assemblies.
Fadhlina said the government would also expedite the process to supply the 50,000 laptops announced by the Prime Minister in the budget to schools and learning institutions under the Ministry.
This move, she said, was among the initiatives by her Ministry to address the issue of the lack of e-learning devices in the education sector in order to develop the digital teaching and learning method.
She said the issue was among the aspects in the multi-dimensional poverty framework being given attention by the government including the Education Ministry.
"The first concerns kemiskinan peranti (device poverty). In the budget yesterday, the Prime Minister announced 50,000 should be given to the schools and institutions under the Ministry.
"It’s only that I don’t know yet how many should be given to Sabah. But we should be grateful for how many we will receive.
"We will fight for more in the next budget," she said.
Besides that, Fadhlina said her Ministry would also focus on malnutrition issues among children, particularly those in pre-schools.
She said they would go through the food supplement programme and plan accordingly based on the allocations under the budget.
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