Putrajaya doles out RM2.5b to schools as polls loom

By Shazwan Mustafa Kamal

February 10, 2011

Muhyiddin said payouts based on performance were new to the civil service. — file pic

PUTRAJAYA, Feb 10 — The Najib administration allocated RM2.492 billion for schools and education departments throughout the country, in what is seen as a move to woo over civil servants and parents nationwide ahead of a general election expected to be called this year.

The RM2.492 billion in financial aid will be given to 16 state education departments (JPN) and seven education ministry divisions (KPM), which include the Islamic department as well as the Malaysian Teacher’s Education Institute.

The Sarawak state education department received the highest allocation of schooling funds this year amounting to RM394 million while the education department in Putrajaya received the lowest amount- RM2.6 million.

Besides that, the division in charge of boarding schools and school with “excellent” status received the highest amount of funds than any other division within the education ministry, totalling RM117 million.

It is understood that the purpose of the financial aid was to highlight the government’s “sincere efforts in narrowing the gap between students in urban areas and rural areas, those who were poor and those who were well-off.”

Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, who is also education minister, announced today the government’s plans in rewarding school principals and teachers who have exceeded their performance beyond the targets set under the education section of the National Key Result Areas (NKRA).

A total of 924 school principals have currently been shortlisted and stand to receive RM7,500 each. Five per cent of teachers, from the same schools as these principals, will receive RM1,800 each for their performances while the rest of the teaching staff will get RM900 each.

“Monetary rewards based on performance is something new which we have not seen before in the history of our country’s civil service. But we believe that this new offer, if done right will be a great incentive for teachers to increase their work productivity,” said Muhyiddin this morning.

Pakatan Rakyat (PR) as well as Barisan Nasional (BN) have been on intensive campaigns to woo various sections of society — especially young voters and civil servants — to vote, as speculation is rife that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak will call for general election by the fourth quarter of this year. Sarawak state elections must be also held by the middle of the year.

PR has promised monetary incentives for teachers under its 100-days reform plan, stating that if it took over Putrajaya, it would stop wastages of federal funds and use the money to reward civil servants.

When asked whether BN was emulating PR’s strategy of wooing potential voters, Muhyiddin claimed it was instead the opposite.

“Pakatan is following our example actually... we have made these offers and programmes for a long time, it’s under the NKRA,” the deputy prime minister told reporters. - Malaysian Insider