SHAH ALAM: The rollout of the PerantiSiswa initiative for B40 students had to be done in two phases to give time for a smoother procurement and delivery process, says Tan Sri Annuar Musa.
The Communications and Multimedia Minister said the government had learnt from previous experiences where a lump sum procurement resulted in delivery delays.“We had to do it in two phases because initially, no supplier could fulfil our order for 400,000 devices, while the academic calendar for each institution was also different.
“We need to also give the supplier time to deliver them in batches to avoid a supply shortage which would result in delays,” he told reporters after the launch of the initiative by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob at Dewan Agung Tuanku Canselor UiTM here yesterday.
Each student will receive a set of the latest Samsung Galaxy Tab A8 LTE together with its original accessories such as a keyboard and stylus.
“Each device would also be under a two-year warranty, so if there are issues, they can send it to the service centre for a replacement.
“It also covers damage due to natural disasters such as floods,” Annuar said.
The minister added that to date, over 100,000 applications had been received under phase one and over 50,000 applications for phase two.
“We have prepared a total of 400,000 devices for this year. For the following year, it depends on the allocation under Budget 2023,” he said.
Under Budget 2021, the government set aside RM450mil for the PerantiSiswa Keluarga Malaysia initiative to provide higher education students from the B40 group with tablets.
Nanthini Nair, 21, a final-year student at MSU Shah Alam, said she was grateful for the initiative.
“I waited for four months and will use it wisely for the remaining tenure of my studies,” the diploma student said.
Muhammad Izhaan Hakim, 21, a freshman at the National Defence University, said he would share the device with his 18-year-old sibling who is currently doing matriculation.
“The initiative would make our studies easier in the university.
“When the Prime Minister announced in his speech that we can keep the device instead of having to return it after our studies, I was elated,” he added.
