Rahman, who is also Tuaran Umno chief, had said this was because the federal government had promised to supply 150,000 laptops to students.
However, Bersatu’s Pintasan representative Fairuz Renddan said the effort by the Sabah government to help underprivileged students was to ensure their educational needs are not disrupted.
Fairuz said the state was trying its best to avoid any student from getting left behind in their studies particularly when the home-based teaching and learning programme is being extended until next month.
“If we don’t take this step and wait for the laptop distribution by the federal government, wouldn’t our children be left behind in their education?” he said, in a statement here today.
As such, he said the issue raised by Rahman was unreasonable as education was not something that should be taken lightly.
“As a government mandated by the rakyat, is it proper for our young children to fall behind in their studies just because we have to wait for help from the federal government. Should the state government do nothing about it?”
Noting the Sabah state government’s plan to distribute 10,000 laptops from July 19 to Oct 18, Rahman pointed out that education minister Radzi Jidin had said that 12,887 laptops had been distributed to students from B40 households, with another 40,290 units to be delivered by June 12.
“The remaining 96,823 laptops will be distributed in September 2021. Why can’t the Sabah state government wait a month?” Rahman asked in a Facebook post.
“What is the need for the state government to buy 10,000 laptops at a cost of RM15 million when the federal government will supply 150,000 laptops to students nationwide, including Sabah?”
The former federal minister said the RM15 million could be spent elsewhere, especially for those in need, including small traders and villagers, during the current nationwide lockdown.
Fairuz, who is also the Sabah Bersatu Youth chief, said it was still not known how many laptops will be distributed to the state by the federal government.
“The early provision of the laptops by the state can be considered as a precursor to the efforts by the federal government.
“To me, we should be happy about this good news because it is for our children in Sabah,” he said.