BANGI, 25 January 2021 – Islamic Relief Malaysia has handed over school aid through the Cheer To School program to school representatives from Sekolah Kebangsaan Kajang and Sekolah Kebangsaan Sungai Melut (Asli), Dengkil.
A total of 199 school students from families with lower income groups (B40) have received school supplies including school uniforms, shoes, socks, school bags, exercise books, stationery, and water bottles worth RM200.
Commenting further on this, Islamic Relief Malaysia Assistant Officer of Program Division, Nur Hidayu Marzuki said, the Cheer To School program aims to provide students’ schooling needs from underprivileged families and to alleviate the burden of school expenses borne by parents.
“The Cheer To School program aims to ease the financial burden of parents as well as to provide school supplies for students from B40 families and below, urban poor, orphans, persons with disabilities (OKU), and indigenous people,” she said.
The Headmaster of Sekolah Kebangsaan Kajang, Azmi Zakaria said, based on the teachers’ observation, they found that low and middle-income families are among the most affected due to the movement control order (MCO) implemented.
“Besar tapak tangan, nyiru kami tadahkan. We warmly welcome donations from any NGO, including Islamic Relief. We hope this kind of program can be continued so that more B40 groups out there will receive assistance in the future,” he said.
The Headmaster of Sekolah Kebangsaan Sungai Melut (Asli), Alfikri Murid said, based on the parents’ employment and income data, they have found out that 90 percent of the students are from underprivileged families.
“Most of the parents here work as farmers, security guards, or production operators in the manufacturing sector. Most students do not have television at home, let alone mobile phones and internet access to continue learning with the home-based teaching and learning (PdPR) method. Most of them had to reuse their brother or sister’s clothes due to financial constraints to buy new school clothes and supplies,” he said.
The beneficiary of Islamic Relief Malaysia from Kampung Orang Asli Kelingsing, Asmidah said, such assistance could to some extent ease the financial burden of her family.
“My husband and I are facing hardship to buy school clothes for our three children due to financial problems. It is also hard for us to go anywhere. The children cannot go to school. Every day they ask me when they can continue learning as usual,” she said.
They also expressed their appreciation to Islamic Relief Malaysia and the donors for their concern towards the students’ needs and helped ease the financial burden faced by parents from the B40 group before the school session begins.
They also hope that the given assistance can increase students’ motivation and readiness to face the 2021 learning session.
