Give every poor undergrad a laptop, Muda tells govt

 

Muda says laptops are a basic necessity during the pandemic, when learning is mostly carried out online.

PETALING JAYA: Muda has urged the higher education ministry to provide one laptop for each university student from the B40 and underprivileged communities.

Its vice-president, Lim Wei Jiet, said laptops are a basic necessity for every student, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic when learning is mostly conducted online.

“We urge the government and the ministry in particular to formulate a policy where every B40 or underprivileged student in all private and public universities is given a laptop,” he said in a statement today.

“A B40 student should not be placed in a situation where he has to rely on the generosity of a coursemate to lend a laptop and subsequently fall behind in learning.”

This follows after a video showing Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) lecturer Roshana Takim scolding a student who did not have a computer, which went viral recently.

“If you have a sister and she has a gold bracelet, tell her to sell that and buy you a computer. You can’t learn properly when you have no computer,” Roshana told the student, adding that it only costs RM800 to get a computer.

The student had earlier responded to her questions about his family, saying that his father was unemployed and his mother had died.

On March 18, communications and multimedia minister Annuar Musa said applications for the PerantiSiswa Malaysia Family package will open from mid-April to benefit 400,000 students from the B40 group in higher education institutions.

The package was first announced during the tabling of Budget 2022 last October to ensure university students have the necessary devices and can connect via the internet at a reasonable cost. - FMT