By Fitri Hazim Hazam
SHAH ALAM, Sept 14 — Up to 130,000 Form Four and Form Five students have participated in free learning via the Selangor People’s Tuition Programme (PTRS) this year.
Yayasan Menteri Besar Selangor (Incorporated) or MBI head Ahmad Azri Zainal Nor said that out of this total, 10,000 students attended physical classes at school.
Students, particularly those from underprivileged backgrounds, were helped to improve their performance in subjects such as Malay, English, Mathematics, Additional Mathematics, Science, and History.
"Last year, 65,000 Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia students participated in PTRS. This year, we added another 65,000 Form Four students. PTRS is open to all secondary schools in Selangor.
"Each school is allowed to open up to two classes, with each class accommodating around 40 students. They will be provided with meals from the school canteen beforehand.
"Teachers are paid an allowance of RM50 for each subject," he told Media Selangor in a recent interview.
Azri added that the PTRS budget had been increased to RM10 million compared to RM7 million last year to boost students' performance.
"In addition to increasing the number of students, we developed the e-PTRS application this year to expand learning access no matter where they are.
"They can attend extra classes without any fees via their smartphones or tablets. Users can also access the Final Sprint Videos, Teaching and Learning Videos, and eBookPTRS," he said.
PTRS provides additional classes in various subjects for students from low-income families who have average or weak academic performance.
