The government-linked investment companies (GLICs) and government-linked companies (GLCs) will be kicking off an RM150 million digital initiative to provide laptops, tablets and data connectivity to enable lower-income families for digital learning.

 

13 GLICs and GLCs under Khazanah Nasional Bhd, Permodalan Nasional Bhd, the Employees Provident Fund and Petroliam Nasional Bhd have joined forces in the initiative called Cerdik.

 

The initiative is set to be rolled out starting in Feb 2021.

 

“We want to bridge the learning gap between those who can afford digital devices and those who cannot. Furthermore, we hope that this initiative will also pilot digital learning models for future adoptions,” Education Ministry (MoE) secretary-general Datuk Yusran Shah Mohd Yusof said in a statement today.

 

Cerdik was announced in Budget 2021 as a pilot initiative that will be fully funded by the GLICs and GLCs.

 

The measure is aimed at helping students from lower-income families adapt to the new norm of online lessons, e-learning and outside-classroom teaching.

 

Students and school selection are determined by the MoE, which has also carefully decided on the hardware and software specifications to ensure a more sustainable implementation including warranty support, usability, and longer shelf life for future digital learning.

 

Yayasan Hasanah, the impact-based foundation of Khazanah, is the secretariat of the Cerdik initiative.

 

The foundation will administer the contributions, in cash and kind, from participating companies while working in partnership with the Finance Ministry and MoE.