This Is Ridiculous.
Only 5 Percent Of Grant For Poor Students Disbursed. That was the Bernama headline. Only recently there were reports of large numbers of loan defaulters and poor collection of loans by Mara and PTPTN. And this blog took them to task for not doing their jobs. Now come to think of it at least Mara and PTPTN disbursed those loans. The following report shows that things have become so bad that government officials, despite having the funds, paid out only 5% of the allocated amount!
KUALA LUMPUR, July 3 (Bernama) -- The government has disbursed only RM29,100 or about five percent of the RM1.6 million allocated to help poor rural students entering boarding schools, matriculation centres or vocational training centres.
Deputy Rural and Regional Development Minister Datuk Zainal Abidin Osman said the amount was for 111 students from hard-core poor families. Replying to Rosnah Abdul Rashid Shirlin (BN-Papar), Zainal Abidin sought the cooperation of Members of Parliament to inform their constituents about the financial assistance. "Perhaps Yang Berhormat can help find those from the hard-core poor category so that we can better distribute the allocation," he said.
Under the existing fund, he said, the one-time financial aid of RM200 per person would be given to the students involved. For poor students from rural areas who have secured a place for a degree or diploma programme, the amount is RM500 each.
Replying to Razali Ibrahim (BN-Muar) who suggested that the ministry sponsor excellent students from the rural areas, he said it should be studied carefully to avoid duplication. He said that scholarships and financial loans did not come directly from the government, but from earnings generated by the ministries' agencies.
The amount may look small when compared to the hundreds of thousands that the PSD dishes out, but to the hard-core poor it is still a precious lot of financial aid. However since the really poor are not as vociferous as their well-to-do counterparts, who whinge and cry when their kids don't get scholarships, they are neglected and that paltry sum they would have gotten is also lost by default. This is really sad and really ridiculous.
KUALA LUMPUR, July 3 (Bernama) -- The government has disbursed only RM29,100 or about five percent of the RM1.6 million allocated to help poor rural students entering boarding schools, matriculation centres or vocational training centres.
Deputy Rural and Regional Development Minister Datuk Zainal Abidin Osman said the amount was for 111 students from hard-core poor families. Replying to Rosnah Abdul Rashid Shirlin (BN-Papar), Zainal Abidin sought the cooperation of Members of Parliament to inform their constituents about the financial assistance. "Perhaps Yang Berhormat can help find those from the hard-core poor category so that we can better distribute the allocation," he said.
Under the existing fund, he said, the one-time financial aid of RM200 per person would be given to the students involved. For poor students from rural areas who have secured a place for a degree or diploma programme, the amount is RM500 each.
Replying to Razali Ibrahim (BN-Muar) who suggested that the ministry sponsor excellent students from the rural areas, he said it should be studied carefully to avoid duplication. He said that scholarships and financial loans did not come directly from the government, but from earnings generated by the ministries' agencies.
The amount may look small when compared to the hundreds of thousands that the PSD dishes out, but to the hard-core poor it is still a precious lot of financial aid. However since the really poor are not as vociferous as their well-to-do counterparts, who whinge and cry when their kids don't get scholarships, they are neglected and that paltry sum they would have gotten is also lost by default. This is really sad and really ridiculous.
posted by The Malaysian. at 7/03/2006 08:20:00 PM
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