KUALA LUMPUR – The Selangor state government is allocating RM10 million to fund the “Tuisyen Rakyat Selangor” programme (PTRS), which was in Pakatan Harapan’s (PH) manifesto during the state polls this year.
The PH-led government initially pledged to provide free education to 200,000 students in Forms 4 and 5 for a period of five years through the programme.
Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari said this will also double the total number of students involved in the programme to almost 120,000 throughout the state.
“The PTRS implementation provides a significant impact on students undertaking their SPM examinations,” he said during the tabling of the state’s 2024 budget today.
The funds will be allocated to Menteri Besar Inc, the company responsible for implementing the programme this year.
The programme offers educational assistance in the form of tuition classes to students who receive average or weak results, especially those who come from lower-income families.
PTRS this year was implemented specifically for 65,000 Form 5 students, where they all received modules for six subjects, including Bahasa Melayu, English, mathematics, science, history and additional mathematics.
A total of 277 schools, as well as 1,956 teachers and coordinators, were involved in the programme this year, with a cost amounting to RM7 million. The allocations include teachers’ allowances and lunch for the students.
Meanwhile, for Selangor’s 2024 budget, Amirudin proposed a RM2.53 billion spending plan, of which RM1.33 billion (52.6%) is for operational expenditure and RM1.2 billion (47.4%) is for development expenditure.
Selangor’s budget for 2023 was RM2.45 billion, of which RM1.25 billion was for operational expenditure and RM1.2 billion was for development expenditure. – November, 10, 2023