Former national shuttler Lee Chong Wei has promised to step up his donations for students struggling to attend virtual classes during the movement control order (MCO).
Last week, Lee pledged 50 tablet computers through the “Asal Cek Mau Pi Sekolah” programme organised by Bukit Mertajam MP Sim Chee Keong.
This was after he watched the video of a student and his grandmother breaking down in tears after receiving a laptop under the programme.
The student had been missing classes as he didn’t have a device to use.
Now, Lee is pledging another 20 laptops for the programme.
Taking to Facebook, Sim thanked Lee, who was raised in Bukit Mertajam, for his contributions.
“He (Lee) conveyed his intentions to donate another 20 laptops to the ‘Asal Cek Mau Pi Sekolah’ programme.
“Chong Wei, your contribution to our children is immense. I want to thank him and may God generously bless him just as he has generously helped our children.
“I promise all the devices will be distributed to families that qualify as soon as the supply arrives,” Sim said.
Meanwhile, Lembah Pantai MP Fahmi Fadzil is urging the government to provide an update on its promise to provide 150,000 free laptops to students.
He noted that Yayasan Hasanah, a foundation under Khazanah National Bhd which was tasked with the free laptop programme, had said distribution will begin this month.
“Fourteen schooling days have passed, but we still do not know exactly when the laptops will be distributed.
“Which of the 500 out of 10,220 schools will be chosen (for the free laptops)? What happens if the 150,000 laptops are not delivered?” asked Fahmi in a statement.
He urged the Education Ministry and Finance Ministry to provide updates on the matter.
“Where are the 150,000 laptops for our children?” he pressed.
Fahmi said some parents cannot afford to buy devices for their children to attend online classes as some have lost their source of income during the MCO.
“If there are many children, they have to share. If they don’t have a device or internet, they will become part of a lost generation,” he said.
Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz, in his Budget 2021 speech last year, said the free laptop programme would be funded by government-linked companies.
They were to contribute RM150 million for 150,000 students in 500 schools as a pilot project.
The project gained widespread attention after the country went into another MCO on Jan 13 to curb the spread of Covid-19.
Following the MCO, schools were closed to most students as classes went online.
This posed a challenge to poor families whose children do not have the means to participate in online learning. - Mkini
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