SEREMBAN: Some 100,000 B40 students will receive exercise books through the One Million Recycled Exercise Books Aid Programme, which involves schools under the Ministry of Education Malaysia (MoE).
Education director-general, Azman Adnan, said that for a start, 2,060 schools will be involved in the first year of the programme, which includes all primary and secondary schools in the Federal Territories of Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya, Selangor, Negeri Sembilan, and Melaka.
“This initiative aims to foster environmental awareness and a spirit of environmental friendliness among students, as well as ease the financial burden of the B40 group in providing basic educational needs for their children.
“This exercise book aid involves one million exercise books for 100,000 B40 students, with 10 exercise books being distributed to 40 poor and hardcore poor students in each school,“ he told reporters after launching the One Million Recycled Exercise Books Aid Programme at Sekolah Kebangsaan Taman Seri Pagi here today.
Also present were the State education director, Khalidah Omar, and the National Book Council of Malaysia director, Mohd Khair Ngadiron.
Meanwhile, Mohd Khair said that his team is targeting to distribute over two million recycled exercise books to all B40 students nationwide in the coming year.
He added that they welcome more participation from companies and individuals to contribute to the programme.
“Individual and company participation in this programme also receives tax relief of up to 10 per cent as a cost-saving measure for the companies involved as taxpayers,“ he said.
This Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) project, based on Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) principles, is managed by Perbadanan Kota Buku and provides recycled paper-based exercise books. It is run in collaboration with the lead partner, the National Book Council of Malaysia (MBKM), and the main strategic partner, CP Integrated Sdn Bhd.
Mohd Khair added that the exercise books are also being distributed to selected B40 students in 44 chosen schools across Johor, Perlis, Penang, Perak, Kedah, and Kelantan.
He also said that a total of 18 local companies have contributed to this project, including an international company, C.A.S Paper Mill (Thailand), with a total contribution of RM650,000, sponsoring one million exercise books.
