KUALA LUMPUR: Parents say the decision to extend the Early Schooling Aid (BAP) of RM150 to Form 6 students starting next year will ease their financial burden, especially those from the B40 group.
Speaking to the New Straits Times today, father-of-three G. Gopal said the assistance meant a lot to his family as it would benefit two of his children.
The 58-year-old office administrator at a government agency said his eldest daughter just joined the workforce, whereas his eldest son is going to Upper Six next year and his youngest would be sitting for his Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia soon.
"This announcement comes as a relief for parents like me who make just enough to run the family.
"My son can use the aid money to buy himself more revision books ahead of his exams.
"I believe this aid would also benefit my youngest boy, if he does well and gets offered to do Form Six next," said Gopal, who single-handedly raised his three children for the past six years.
He added that revision books were not cheap and the aid could be used to buy study materials.
Gopal said with his retirement not far away, he had to be prudent in his spending. He also thanked the Education Ministry for extending the aid to Form Six students.
Yesterday, Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek said the extension of the school aid programme was expected to benefit over 100,000 students. (https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nst.com.my/amp/news/nation/2024/12/1151...)
She said that the BAP would be disbursed to Form 6 students next February and new students will receive theirs in July.
She said the BAP for Form 6 students reflected the Madani government's concern towards easing the financial burden of parents and guardians as they prepared for their children's schooling needs.
Another Form Six student parent, Fauziah Hamid from Kajang, also shared Gopal's view about the expensive revision books.
She added that the aid could also be used to pay for tuition classes when the exams are nearing.
She said her daughter, who's in Lower Six, normally saves a fraction of her daily pocket money to buy revision books on past-year Sijil Tinggi Persekolahan Malaysia papers and her revision materials.
"With this additional RM150, she can buy more forecast question books to practice as well," said the 49-year-old Fauziah.
Before Fadhlina's announcement, on Oct 18 Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim while tabling Budget 2025 at the Dewan Rakyat said BAP would be continued, with almost RM800 million allocated for 5.2 million students from Year 1 to Form 5, regardless of the income of parents.
The new announcement to cater the aid for Form Six students as well is expected to cost the government an additional RM15 million for almost 100,000 Form Six students.
KW: Form 6, STPM, students, BAP, RM150, revision books, study, NST, News, Malaysia