TANJUNG MALIM: The Education Ministry has discussed its Budget 2023 requests with the Finance Ministry, says Datuk Dr Mah Hang Soon.

“Among the requests were maintenance and renovations for buildings and facilities. We have always focused on providing a safer environment with great facilities and hygiene for the students and pupils," said the Deputy Education Minister.

“I believe our Finance Ministry will table the best budget for everyone including for our ministry,” he added.

Dr Mah said that the upcoming tabling of Budget 2023 should focus on education and the well-being of students and pupils.

He said that although the budget was for everyone, he was hopeful that more would be given in the education sector.

“We have about 10,000 institutions registered under our ministry and more than 400,000 teachers.

“I believe that the Finance Ministry will know what’s best for everyone, especially for the education sector,” he told reporters after at SMK Proton City, here on Tuesday (Sept 20).

In Budget 2022, the education sector received the largest chunk of the budget at RM52.6bil. This also includes a total of RM450mil allocation for early school aid, for a total of three million students, and each student will receive RM150.

Separately, Dr Mah said more efforts would be given to encourage students, pupils and their parents to read.

“Research has been done and revealed that Malaysians, on average, spent about three hours a week reading while Americans spent about 30min.

“Although the data is not that bad, we want more Malaysians to spend their time reading.

“Among the ideas we discussed were opening more public libraries as well as making reading materials available,” he said.

https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2022/09/20/keep-education-as-main-focus-in-budget-2023-says-dr-mah