THE Parent Action Group for Education (PAGE) has asked why the government left out funding for hybrid learning, despite education receiving the largest share of Budget 2022.

PAGE president Noor Azimah Abdul Rahim said with zero funding, pupils from B40 families in particular will miss out on education.

“While the world speaks of a new normal, especially in education, the budget should have capitalised on our strength.”

“Our new strength is that 21st century learning is here to stay but funding for hybrid learning appears absent.”

“It is 21st century learning that will bridge the learning loss, as well as remove the excessive burden on teachers by turning students into self-learners,” she said.

The government allocated RM52.6 billion for the education sector for next year.

Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz also announced an increase of RM150 in early school aid for 3 million students, which will cost the country RM450 million.

However, Azimah said that the government should have provided items instead of giving out cash.

“We would like to see that items provided for in the early school aid are beneficial for the children, so they begin the new academic year with confidence.”

Tengku Zafrul also announced RM1 billion to be allocated for school maintenance and repair. 

To this, Azimah said that PAGE would like to see schools benefited from the allocation.

“We would like to see that schools obtain value for money and not instead leak or pilfered to feed rent seekers.”

Meanwhile, National Union of Teaching Professions of Malaysia (NUTP) secretary general Wang Heng Suan thanked the government for the one-off handout to teachers.

He then requested whether the government could set up a special fund to subsidise teachers to buy new devices for online teaching.

Tengku Zafrul said this evening that 400,000 teachers nationwide will receive RM100 as an appreciation for online teaching during the pandemic.

However, for Azimah, the incentive was an insult.

Azimah said the huge budget needed to be used effectively for special needs teachers.

According to Azimah, these teachers need to be trained properly and increased in numbers.

“Schools need to also raise toilets for disabled pupils and make schools accessible to them,” she said.

RM50 million has been allocated for special needs by the government.

It involves the purchase of teaching facilities and improvement of facilities in schools. – October 29, 2021.