MITRA Aid: Private Kindergartens Charging Extra Fees To Be Blacklisted

PUTRAJAYA, Sept 4 (Bernama) — Private kindergartens receiving aid under the ‘Anak Pintar, Negara Gemilang’ subsidy programme but found charging additional monthly fees will be blacklisted and asked to return the funds to the Malaysian Indian Transformation Unit (MITRA).

MITRA chairman P. Prabakaran said continuous monitoring would be carried out to ensure such practices do not occur and burden parents from the B40 group.

“If there are complaints, we will take action. The kindergartens will be blacklisted, and they must return the funds received to MITRA,” he said at a press conference after attending the signing ceremony of the ‘Anak Pintar, Negara Gemilang’ Private Kindergarten Early Education Subsidy Assistance Programme 2025 here today.

Earlier, in his speech, Prabakaran, who is also Batu MP, said audit monitoring found that a handful of private kindergartens receiving aid were collecting additional monthly fees from parents even though the kindergarten fees had been subsidised by MITRA.

On the programme, started in 2014, he said that this year, MITRA has approved aid applications for 173 private kindergartens involving 4,025 children who will receive subsidies, with an allocation of RM7.75 million.

“This subsidy programme is a government initiative to provide equal access to education for children from B40 families in line with the Malaysia Education Blueprint 2013-2025, to ensure their future well-being and welfare are safeguarded,” he said.

He said the programme would help the government achieve three objectives — increasing the enrolment rate of Indian children from B40 families, easing the financial burden of schooling borne by B40 households, and narrowing the gap in early childhood education access among vulnerable groups.

“I hope all children receiving this subsidy will be able to continue their primary education in SJKT (Tamil national-type schools),” he said.

At the same event, Prabakaran also distributed the 2024 Report Card highlighting MITRA’s government-funded activities throughout last year.

“There is also a soft copy (of the report card), which I will upload to my social media. This has never been done before,” he said.

— BERNAMA