KUCHING, June 10 ― Only 12,887 or 8.6 per cent of the 150,000 laptops promised by the finance minister last November have been distributed as of June 5, said Kulai MP Teo Nie Ching.

The former deputy education minister said the government of the day had failed to ensure the speedy delivery of the laptops.

"Delivery of the 150,000 laptops will determine the quality of home-based learning, especially for the B40 (bottom 40 per cent income group) students,” she said in a statement today.

During the Nov 6 tabling of Budget 2021, Finance Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz had announced RM150 million to purchase 150,000 laptops for students in 500 schools nationwide.

Teo also noted only 70,000 or 16.2 per cent of teachers under the Ministry of Education (MoE) had been vaccinated as of June 5.

"KJ (Khairy Jamaluddin — National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme coordinating minister) promised in March that teachers would be prioritised in phase 2 of the NCIP.

"However, as at June 5, only 70,000 or 16.2 per cent of the teachers under MoE have been vaccinated. When will the remaining 83.8 per cent of the teachers get their vaccine?”

Teo also asked about vaccination for teachers in religious schools, Mara Junior Colleges, Royal Military Colleges, private schools, international schools, private religious schools, Chinese independent schools, and expatriate schools.

According to her, Malaysia has 89,696 teachers in the private sector and in other institutions managed by government agencies.

"We also have 31,626 academic staff in public universities. Will they be included in phase 2 of the NCIP?”

Asserting that vaccinating teachers is key to creating a safer schooling environment, she said nearly 84 per cent of teachers in Malaysia had yet to be vaccinated.

"The MoE was split into two ministries under the Perikatan Nasional (PN) administration. From one minister and one deputy to two ministers and three deputies.

"Though lots of duties and responsibilities have been taken off from their plate, the current education minister and his two deputies have failed miserably to look after the welfare of primary and secondary school teachers and students,” Teo claimed. ― Borneo Post