KUCHING: About 40 underprivileged pupils of SK St Andrew were given back-to-school necessities such as bags and stationery at the school in Jalan Sungai Apong here.
Batu Lintang assemblyman See Chee How explained that the event was initiated by Local Government and Housing Minister Zuraida Kamaruddin.
“She (Zuraida) was very concerned about the students so we are giving bags, shoes and stationery to certain schools.
“More than 2,000 (students) have received the aid since last week,” he said yesterday.
See added that the programme would also be implemented in schools in Batu Kitang, Bau, Satok and Petra Jaya areas soon.
“Hopefully, this will motivate the students to stay in school,” he said, adding that Zuraida also hoped that with the aid, they would study hard and become good students.
When asked about the number of schools in Sarawak that would benefit from the programme, See said he did not have the exact figures because the aid was only given upon requests from the grassroots level.
“It could be between 100 and 300 schools throughout the state.
“At first, the school will give us the list of students who are from B40 group (underprivileged) families and then we will calculate and get the number of bags and shoes,” he added.
Also present was SK St Andrew headmistress Irene Linda Lawan.
