Puad: Parents will be told when to collect school aid

PETALING JAYA: The schools will inform parents on when they can collect the RM100 school assistance, said Deputy Education Minister Dr Mohd Puad Zarkashi.

The parents, he said, were required to be present in schools to collect the money on behalf of their children.

“The schools will arrange a suitable date,” he said here yesterday.

Federal Territory education director Abdullah Mad Yunus explained that schools would need time to prepare for the distribution to parents.

An Education Ministry circular dated Dec 31 last year quoted its secretary-general Datuk Dr Rosli Mohamed as saying that the RM100 school assistance would need to be distributed by the end of January.

The circular also said that a decision had been made to enable each state to hold a ceremony to present the aid to parents and their children.

A ministry official said information on the distribution of the school assistance would be available via commercials to be aired on television.

Meanwhile, school heads said it was not possible for parents to “walk into” the schools any time from today to collect the assistance.

“Parents need to wait for the schools to tell them when they can come,” said a school head.

Another school head said the money was expected to be banked into schools’ accounts from today.