KUALA LUMPUR: The Federation of Chinese Associations Malaysia (Huazong) has appealed to the government to also include the senior secondary six students of the Chinese independent schools, for the one-off RM200 cash aid for varsity students.
Its president Tan Sri T.C Goh appealed this while welcoming the announcement of the Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz on Saturday that, the RM200 one-off aid to every full-time student at higher education institutions announced by the government previously will now also include students who are pursuing Form Six, diploma and other equivalent qualifications.
Goh said, Huazong was of the view that in this challenging time of Covid-19 pandemic and Movement Control Order (MCO), as a responsible-and-caring government for all Malaysians, it should not exclude this group of Chinese independent school students from its ‘Prihatin Rakyat Economic Stimulus Package’. He added that their status is also equivalent to that of the Form Six students in the public schools.
He cited for example, their examination results are recognized by the private colleges alongside with the results of the Form Six students, for their student intake.
“Huazong welcomes the government’s move to extend the RM200 one-off cash aid to also include students who are pursuing Form Six, diploma and other equivalent qualifications, as it is in line with our recent proposal to the government, to also provide assistance to primary and secondary students of all categories of schools in the country, to help them to cope with the current dire situation,” he said in a statement issued today.
According to the Finance Ministry, the said aid will be offered to Form Six students, students pursuing a diploma or other equivalent qualifications, including those in institutions under the Human Resources Ministry, the Youth and Sports Ministry and Majlis Amanah Rakyat (Mara).
With this inclusion, the allocation will be increased from RM270mil to RM300mil to benefit about 1.5 million students.
The government had previously announced a RM200 one-off aid to every full-time student at higher education institutions, as part of the stimulus package announced by Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, on 27 February.
The aid included students at matriculation courses, community colleges, polytechnics, public and private higher education institutions under the Higher Education Ministry.
While welcoming the additional allocation by the government to assist the various categories of students, Goh hoped that the government would not overlook the several thousands of senior secondary six students in the Chinese independent schools.
“In its noble intention and effort to assist the people in this difficult time of a pandemic, the government must not neglect this particular group of students. We also hope that the government could extend the same to the primary and secondary students in the country,” he reiterated.-pr/BNN
