Schooling aid payment 95% completed

KUALA LUMPUR: The distribution of the Early Schooling Aid of RM150 to each student has surpassed 95%, said Deputy Education Minister Wong Kah Woh.

He said the remaining funds would be disbursed by this week, before the end of the 2023/2024 school session.

“Schools have received the funds and efforts are underway to ensure the aid reaches parents or guardians,” he told reporters after attending the BAP presentation ceremony at Sekolah Kebangsaan St Mary yesterday.

BAP payments totalling RM30,434,850 were presented to the Kuala Lumpur Education Department, RM15,340,800 to the Bangsar Pudu district education office, RM7,928,700 to the Sentul district education office and RM7,165,350 to the Keramat district education office.

To date, a total of RM702,012,500 of the RM788,130,000 allocated for the BAP initiative under Budget 2024 has been distributed.

On a separate matter, Wong said the government has allocated RM100 million this year to upgrade science and computer labs in secondary schools nationwide, as well as to initiate pioneering programmes in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) cluster.

Of the total, RM40 million will be used to upgrade 301 computer labs, RM40 million to upgrade 200 science labs and RM10 million each for procuring STEM equipment and organising STEM cluster programmes.

He said approximately 2,456 schools are expected to benefit from the allocation.

Wong revealed that Perlis currently has the highest student involvement in the STEM field at 60%, followed by Kuala Lumpur at 52.55%. – Bernama