KUALA LUMPUR: The distribution of the Early Schooling Aid (BAP) of RM150 to each student has surpassed 95%, says Deputy Education Minister Wong Kah Woh.
He said the remaining funds would be disbursed within 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 mock cheque presentation ceremony at Sekolah Kebangsaan St Mary here on Wednesday (Feb 7).
The BAP 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 out of the RM788,130,000 allocated for the BAP initiative under Budget 2024 had already been distributed to schools.
Meanwhile, Wong said the government had allocated RM100mil 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, RM40mil would be used to upgrade 301 computer labs, RM40mil to upgrade 200 science labs and RM10mil each for procuring STEM equipment and organising STEM cluster programmes.
Approximately 2,456 schools were expected to benefit from this allocation, he said.
Wong highlighted that Perlis currently had the highest student involvement in the STEM field at 60%, followed by Kuala Lumpur at 52.55%. - Bernama
