KOTA SAMARAHAN: More than 6,400 Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas) students are eligible to receive their tablets under the Peranti Siswa Keluarga Malaysia (Keluarga Malaysia Student Device) programme.

As of today, a total of 2,800 units have been distributed in stages starting on Oct 24 to 28.

As such, caretaker Works Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof reminded the students who received the assistance to take care of — and make full use of — the device.

“The Malaysian government does not want university students to fall behind given the technology boom, and the government also helped cover the cost so that you all (students) get it for free.

“This is to motivate all students to continue studying and score outstanding achievements,” said the Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) chief whip.

“In my opinion, this digital boom, particularly in Sarawak, has the potential to create an IT-savvy Malaysian family as well as open doors to additional innovations that will one day elevate the nation on the world stage.”

Fadillah, who is also the Petra Jaya incumbent, said this when attending the handover of Peranti Siswa devices at Unimas today.

The Peranti Siswa Keluarga Malaysia programme is a government initiative through the Ministry of Communications and Multimedia, with the cooperation of the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Higher Education.

As of Sept 20, 7,400 applications have been approved for students from Sarawak.

In total, some 400,000 students throughout the country from low-income families (B40) in public universities, private higher education institutions, polytechnics, and community colleges are eligible to receive the Samsung Galaxy Tab A8 LTE tablets.