Give vouchers for students to buy laptop computers, says PKR man

 

University students may end up not using the digital devices given to them if they are not of good quality, says PKR’s Lee Chean Chung.

PETALING JAYA: It is better for the government to give vouchers to university students who fall under the B40 category than provide them with tablets, says PKR treasurer-general Lee Chean Chung.

Lee told FMT that this would give students the freedom to choose the device and model that would best suit their needs, and with the right warranty.

He said the vouchers should have a value equivalent to the price of a netbook or laptop computer, because such devices were better than tablets for university students.

“Laptops are definitely more relevant to the students’ learning and so is an affordable internet connection,” he said.

Lee Chean Chung.

“With most students returning to schools and universities, we also need to discuss how hybrid learning should continue so that they can catch up after losing two years (due to the pandemic).”

Lee is assemblyman for Selembu, Pahang, and also a Pahang PKR leader.

He said tablets could end up being unused or dumped if they are not of good quality. “Then these tablets would be wasted and will merely be a gimmick by the government,” he said.

Earlier this week, communications and multimedia minister Annuar Musa said the government was planning to provide tablets instead of laptops to university students from the B40 group under the PerantiSiswa Keluarga Malaysia initiative.

His announcement drew backlash from netizens who questioned the quality and technical specifications of the devices, and how the machines would be procured.

Annuar later said photos he had shown were merely examples and not of the actual devices to be supplied. He said an open tender for the initiative was still in progress.

Former deputy education minister Teo Nie Ching questioned the logic behind giving tables to university students when the ministry had given laptop computers to pupils of primary and secondary schools last year.

Laptop computers cost from about RM1,400 up to RM3,500 or more, while the prices of tablet computers range from about RM500 to more than RM2,000. - FMT