AFTER continued delays and tender problems over the Government’s rollout of free tablets to underprivileged students, the programme will kick off today with the first round of Samsung tablet distributions.
According to Communications and Multimedia Minister Tan Sri Annuar Musa, those selected will receive the latest Samsung tablet model together with a casing, external keyboard and stylus pen.
“Congrats to those selected,” Annuar said in a brief Facebook post anouncing the matter.
He added that the Peranti Siswa Keluarga Malaysia initiative will be launched by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob at Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) Shah Alam at 2:30pm.
Under the Budget 2022 initiative, tablets are to be provided to deserving public and private university students from low-income families to ensure they do not get left behind.
More than 100,000 units will be distributed to more than 200 universities across the country. Students are to return the tablets after they graduate or according to the time period set by their respective programme administrators.
A total of RM450 mil was allocated for the initiative.
The Government has since loosened its requirements, with foundation and matriculation students in public universities, Form 6 students and vocational diploma students are also allowed to apply for free tablets until the end of the month through the PerantiSiswa online portal.
Annuar previously said the Samsung Galaxy Tab A8 LTE was selected through an open tender following the cancellation of the initial tablet supplier (although the winner of the bid has reportedly not been made public).
Annuar previously stated that the tablet rollout would be delayed to mid-July after the tender for the initial supplier was cancelled by the Finance Minister. No reasons were given for the cancellation.
Among the minimum specifications set by the Government for the initiative include a 10.1-inch screen, 1280×800 resolution, Android OS 10 and above, 4G LTE, 4GB RAM and 64GB.
However, Annuar said previously that it would take around 30 to 45 days before the tablets were shipped given the large number of devices involved and logistics in distributing them to more than 200 universities nationwide.
Initial applications for students to get the devices closed in May, according to media reports. – Sept 3, 2022
