KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 3 — Waiting excitedly in line, 519 tertiary students from 23 Klang Valley schools gathered to take home their Samsung Galaxy Tab A8 LTE devices from the PerantiSiswa initiative.

The entire bundle — the tablet itself, Bluetooth keyboard, a stylus, and a tablet case — was presented in a PerantiSiswa box bearing an image of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.

Huda, a 20-year-old Islamic studies student from the Selangor International Islamic University College (KUIS), expressed her gratitude over receiving the tablet.

"I think this tablet will assist me in my studies since it makes things easier. I can take it anywhere with me.

"I'm in my third out of eight semesters, so I will have lots of opportunity to use it," Huda, who currently studies using her laptop, said.

Siti Nur Farhana Baharum, who is undergoing her diploma studies in KUIS, expressed similar sentiments

"Happy and thankful for these devices," said the 19-year old student, who travelled with others from the campus in Kajang to attend the launch.

During a media conference after the launch, Communications and Multimedia Minister Tan Sri Annuar Musa said he hoped the students would care well for the devices.

He also urged those who have received similar devices under different aid schemes to allow others the opportunity to obtain the PerantiSiswa tablets.

Annuar said the programme would be conducted in phases to ensure students who enrolled for studies after September would also be able to apply for a device.

He added that the warranty for the products was two years instead of the usual one provided by retailers.

The free tablet programme was announced during the tabling of Budget 2022 with a total allocation of RM450 million.

A total of 400,000 devices will be given out to the students.

B40 students may apply to receive the PerantiSiswa package until September 30 on the official website.