PUTRAJAYA: The RM100 book vouchers for tertiary education students will be distributed in stages, says Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abd Kadir.
The Higher Education Minister said the ministry’s secretary-general Datuk Seri Dr Zaini Ujang will announce the distribution method as soon as possible.
“The Prime Minister wants it (the book voucher distribution) to begin this evening,” he said after attending the ministry’s monthly assembly yesterday.
Zambry said the distribution will be in stages, with priority on the use of the vouchers at the Kuala Lumpur International Book Festival 2024, which ends tomorrow.
“The rest of the distribution will be done at higher education institutions,” he added.
Zambry expressed hope that any past issues encountered in previous voucher distribution could be avoided this time.
On Thursday, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim announced that students from Year Four until tertiary level education will receive book vouchers worth RM100.
He said the vouchers would come with a recommended reading list including the works of national laureates Datuk Seri A. Samad Said, Datuk Dr Anwar Ridhwan and the late Datuk Dr Shahnon Ahmad.
“I have suggested that when we give them the leeway to use the vouchers, we also provide a list of classic novels such as (Hikayat) Hang Tuah or books written by our national laureates.
“We also proposed that the vouchers be used to purchase titles on technology because we need our children to understand the basics of digitalisation and artificial intelligence,” he added.
In 2012, then prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak launched the Baucar Buku 1Malaysia scheme to help students purchase books and academic materials.
However, issues arose when these vouchers were sold to others for money.
Zaini said all 1.2 million Malaysian students studying in local higher education institutions will receive the vouchers.
“International students and Malaysians studying overseas will not get it,” he added.
In a statement, the Higher Education Ministry said those attending the book fair can purchase their books through the BookCapital platform.
“The selection of BookCapital, under the management of KL International Book Festival 2024 co-organiser Perbadanan Kota Buku, is to facilitate users throughout the duration of this book festival. The use of other platforms will be used in the next phase,” it said.
In a separate statement, the Education Ministry said Year Four to Year Six pupils and students at the ministry’s institutions can log into the Digital Educational Learning Initiative Malaysia (Delima) platform to claim and use their RM100 vouchers. (See steps in infographic.)
They could log in from yesterday.
“The Prime Minister’s announcement coincides with the Education Ministry’s continuous efforts to improve the reading culture among pupils and students through the organisation of various encouragement programmes at every level,” it said in a statement.
On another matter, Zambry said the ministry has been having in-depth discussions with various ministries including the Investment, Trade and Industry; Economic; and Human Resources ministries on the country’s manpower needs.
He said they are “taking a proactive approach” to ensure that the country can meet the manpower needs of industries, especially those receiving foreign direct investments.
