33,000 Sarawakian SPM students to receive laptops
THE STAR
Promise kept: Najib presenting a laptop to Liyana Nazuha Mohamad Napi. Also present are (from left) Kamalanathan, Adenan and Dr Madinah.
PUTRAJAYA: Some 33,000 Form Five students in Sarawak will receive laptops to help them prepare for the SPM examination.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said the free laptops were part of a pledge he made during the Sarawak election.
“During a walkabout at SK Sungai Ladong in Sarawak in April, I promised to help improve the process of learning among Sarawak students by providing facilities such as laptops.
“Now that we have fulfilled this pledge, I am confident that in the future we can see an improvement in the achievements of students in the state.
“This also shows the cooperation between the Federal Government and the state government in ensuring the development of Sarawak, especially in human capital development,” he said after presenting the laptops to five Sarawakian students in a symbolic ceremony held at his office here.
Najib said the distribution process to all students was expected to be completed next month.
Also present were Sarawak Chief Minister Tan Sri Adenan Satem, Deputy Education Minister Datuk P. Kamalanathan and Education Ministry secretary-general Tan Sri Dr Madinah Mohamad.
Kamalanathan told reporters later that the laptops were loaned to the current Form Five batch and the computers would be returned after SPM, so it could be passed down to the next batch.
“This is a pilot programme and it is similar to the school textbook loan scheme.
“If this programme goes on well, we will consider spreading it to other states as well,” he said.
The laptops are equipped with educational software related to SPM subjects
