Amirudin (fourth from right) after presenting certificates to strategic partners of the #KitaSelangor Book Voucher initiative. He is flanked by Selangor Deputy State Secretary (Development) Datuk Johary Anuar (to his right) and Yayasan Selangor acting chief executive officer Zaini Sulaiman. — KK SHAM/The Star
SOME 2,000 undergraduates of universities in Selangor will benefit from the #KitaSelangor Book Voucher initiative under the Selangor Budget 2025.
This doubles the number of voucher recipients under the previous year’s budget allocation.
Selangor Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari announced that the state government would allocate RM400,000 next year for deserving students, to help the underprivileged buy learning materials.
“The book vouchers will be launched at the Selangor International Book Fair (SIBF) 2024.
“Through agents such as the Persatuan Mahasiswa Selangor Nasional, the vouchers will be distributed to undergraduates,” he said.
Amirudin said this after launching the Selangor Education Summit (SES) 2024 at Bangunan Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah in Shah Alam.
The previous year’s scheme saw the handing out of #KitaSelangor book vouchers worth RM200 each to 1,000 students at public and private tertiary level institutions.
These included the Selangor Technical Skills Development Centre, Universiti Selangor and Universiti Teknologi Mara.
SES 2024 will be held from Nov 27 to Dec 1 at Setia City Convention Centre in Shah Alam.
It will feature four events, namely SIBF, Selangor Research, Development and Innovation Expo, Selangor Edu STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) and Selangor Advanced Skills 2024.
Amirudin said SES 2024 was themed “Where Innovation Meets Education, and Exploration Leads Transformation”.
The summit aims to drive the development of people in the fields of TVET (technical and vocational education and training) and STEM.
It also targets reforming the education system through interactive teaching and learning modules that use a high level of technology.
Another goal of the summit is to enhance cooperation among stakeholders in the education and industry sectors, both locally, and internationally.
Amirudin added that SIBF, led by the Selangor Public Library Corporation, aimed to make the reading culture a cornerstone in shaping people’s character and for the book fair to be one of the best in Asia.
“Selangor Research, Development and Innovation Expo will focus on commercialisation, in line with progress and development in the research and innovation fields in the state.
“It will involve local and international educational institutions and industries,” he added.
“These will include National University of Singapore, Thailand’s Mahidol University, Universitas Gadjah Mada of Indonesia, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Google, Siemens and Forest Research Institute Malaysia,” he said.
Amiruddin said the aim of Selangor Edu STEM was to grow a STEM education culture by introducing the concept of experiential-based learning.
“Selangor Advanced Skills 2024, the first-ever organised by a state government using the Worldskills format, serves as a platform to develop talents through professional and high-skills training programmes at an international level.
“The Skills Development Department will sign several memoranda of agreements to make Selangor a hub for the national-level Worldskills Competition, focusing on mechatronics and Industry 4.0,” said Amirudin, who is Sungai Tua assemblyman.
WorldSkills is an international organisation that holds world and national championships for vocational skills.
While some programmes such as SIBF have been held as standalone events, Amirudin said SES 2024 would, for the first time, have four events under one umbrella.
These are collectively aimed at promoting STEM, TVET, innovation and a culture of lifelong learning.
For details, visit https://selangoreducation.my/
