Violet Yong
KUCHING (March 31): Pending assemblywoman Violet Yong has urged the state government to expedite the handing out of the RM150 monthly tuition fee vouchers to 5,600 secondary students in the state.
Yong said she has received feedback from some parents that the tuition fee vouchers have not been given out yet.
She said the tuition fee vouchers were supposed to be given to the lower income group as pledged by Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg in November last year.
“During the State Budget speech delivered in the State Legislative Assembly on Nov 9, 2020, the Chief Minister had announced that the state government will allocate RM10 Million in the form of school vouchers to fund tuition fee for 5,600 secondary school students in Sarawak.
“It was reported that the assistance will be paid through the form of vouchers worth RM150 per month or RM1,800 per year for each secondary school children from the low-income group for the year of 2021 and it will be coordinated through Yayasan Sarawak,” said Yong in a statement here today.
She said when the public tried to follow up with Yayasan Sarawak on the matter, the answer given was that “the matter is still at the planning stage”.
“We are now almost at the end of first quarter of Year 2021 and yet the RM150 tuition fees vouchers have not been disbursed to deserving students. This is totally unacceptable.
“How could the matter be still under planning stage when the announcement was made in November, 2020 by the Chief Minister in his state budget’s speech for 2021?”
Therefore, he urged the state government to ensure that the distribution of the payment vouchers could be implemented without delay so that the targeted students can truly benefit from such financial aid.
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