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The CERDIK Initiative is off to a very slow start, with just ⅓ of the laptops or tablets to be distributed by 12 June 2021!
Here are the details…
CERDIK Initiative : What Is It?
The CERDIK Initiative, which started in February 2021, aimed to provide low-income B40 families with a laptop or tablet and Internet access for a year.
This initiative is fully financed by GLCs (Government-Linked Companies) and GLICs (Government-Linked Investment Companies), with contributions of about RM 150 million (USD 37 million).
Yayasan Hasanah – the Khazanah foundation selected to be its secretariat – will manage the initiative which aims to distribute 150,000 laptops or tablets to students from B40 families across the country.
The laptop / tablet (with 1 year of Internet connectivity) will be distributed to schools, and students will retain them until they complete their education.
CERDIK Initiative : Only ⅓ Laptops Distributed By June 2021!
Even though the CERDIK Initiative kicked off in February 2021, they only managed to distribute 12,887 devices to 95 schools in 51 districts by 5 June 2021.
The Minister of Education. Dr. Radzi Jidin said that another 40,290 devices will be distributed by 12 June 2021.
He estimates that the remaining 96,823 devices will be fully distributed by end of September 2021.
As you can tell, the CERDIK Initiative is off to a very slow start, and students from low-income B40 families are going to suffer.
Students have been learning online (PdPR) since mid May 2021. Until they get these devices and Internet connectivity, students from B40 families will have trouble joining those classes and keeping up.
If these students end up getting their devices in August and September, they would only be able to learn for a few weeks before the school term ends in November!
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