KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 10 — The state government will continue to implement the Selangor School Assistance Programme next year, with an allocation of RM26.5 million.

Selangor Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari said the School Assistance Programme, introduced since 2009, was instrumental in school infrastructure repairs and providing a more conducive learning environment in the state.

He added that since the programme was introduced, it has received positive response from schools in Selangor.

"As an example, a total of 988 schools were given aid under the programme for this year.

"For next year, RM1.5 million from the total allocation will be apportioned to the Selangor School Infrastructure Disaster Recovery Special Fund, which is specifically for the repair of damaged school infrastructure due to natural disasters.

"It is hoped that the initiative, which has been proposed to the Education Ministry, can be a nationwide initiative to ensure that the school’s environment can recover immediately if affected by any disaster,” said Amirudin while tabling the Selangor Budget 2024 at the state legislative assembly in Shah Alam this afternoon.

Meanwhile, Amirudin said the state government has allocated RM350,000 to prioritise early childhood education.

He added that the allocation will go towards providing proper guidance and care, especially in the initial stages of early childhood education.

"Therefore, in 2024, the state government will introduce a child development screening programme for children between the ages of three and five in the B40 group.

"This programme serves as an initial screening process to identify a child’s developmental level at an early stage.

"This is an important phase for both parents and teachers in identifying a child’s potential,” he said.

Amirudin explained that the child development screening programme is to determine a child’s development status in five main areas – gross motor skills, fine motor skills, speech and language, cognitive development and also social or adaptive behaviour.

Earlier, the menteri besar tabled a RM2.53 billion allocation for Selangor, with RM1.33 billion allocated for administrative expenses and RM1.2 billion for development expenses.