Govt may credit RM150 school aid to students’ accounts

THE government is mulling a proposal to directly credit the RM150 early schooling aid (BAP) to the accounts of students, says Lim Hui Ying.

The Deputy Education Minister said the move was to prevent a repeat of the incident in January that saw BAP worth more than RM100,000 being stolen.

“However, the proposal must consider the willingness of financial institutions, as well as the difficulty of students in the interior who may incur high costs in going to the bank,” she said during Question Time.

Radzi Jidin (PN-Putrajaya) then interjected and said BAP was initially credited to the bank accounts of students during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Is there a timeline (for the suggestion to be implemented)?” asked the former Education Minister.

In response, Lim said that at present, BAP is credited to bank accounts that are jointly owned by parents and students under 12.

“I can’t give a specific timeline. But it is in the process. We cannot force them, but only encourage them.

“We have also received much feedback from parents on ways to improve the process of distributing the aid,” she said, adding that the ministry has always conducted briefings to ensure school principals abide by the guidelines in handling cash in schools.

Lim also said the ministry had requested that schools return the balance of the BAP funds before July 31, after the number of those eligible for the aid has been confirmed.

Early this year, BAP worth more than RM100,000 withdrawn from a bank by a school principal in Semenyih, Selangor, was reportedly stolen from his car.

According to reports, he had left the money in a bag in the front passenger seat to buy a drink at a nearby shop.