MIRI: A total of 490 pupils from 16 primary schools here received goodies from Petronas Carigali under its outreach programme yesterday.
“This is our largest nationwide outreach since the programme started 17 years ago and we’re glad that we can help the students here prepare for their schooling next year. We hope that by removing one of the barriers that students from low-income families often experience, they will be motivated to stay and finish school,” said Petronas Carigali Sdn Bhd — Sarawak OiI head Morris Mail.
He believed that every child should be given a chance to pursue quality education for a better future and to improve their lives and that of their
families.
A Primary Four pupil from Sekolah Kebangsaan Lutong Fasha Mohd Zaki, who was among the recipients, said the goodies would help lessen her family’s financial burden.
“My dad is a security guard so I look forward to the programme every year as it helps lessen my family’s burden,” she said when approached by New Sarawak Tribune during the event held at Miri Civic Centre.
She was glad that her school enlisted her name as one of the recipients for the programme.
Fasha was accompanied by her school teacher Durie Jelaping to the event. At the event, the students received back-to-school supplies for the 2020 academic year under Yayasan Petronas‘ Back To School 2019 (BTS 2019) programme.
The recipients are from low-income families, the Bottom 40 percent (B40) households.
They each received a school bag, tumbler, poncho, stationery along with two pairs of school uniform and a pair of socks and shoes.
BTS 2019 will run from mid-October to November 2019, supported by more than 800 Petronas volunteers who will be selecting school uniforms and shoes for the children, packing and delivering the items to the selected schools.
The programme will benefit a total of 21,000 primary school pupils from low-income families nationwide. According to recent report by the Ministry of Education, school dropout rates in Malaysia have declined slightly from 0.34 percent to 0.29 percent between 2014 and 2017, and the Ministry aims to further reduce it to 0.27 percent in 2019.
