KUALA LUMPUR – University students have welcomed the RM100 book voucher from the government, but said they would benefit differently depending on their course of study.
Those who require more textbooks and reference materials for their course say the voucher covers only a fraction of their costs, while those enrolled in courses requiring fewer books are happy to use the voucher to buy materials for leisure reading.
A second-year accounting student, Aleya Shahril, 21, from Kolej Poly-Tech Mara in Bangi said she spends more than RM200 per semester on books.
“For courses like mine, where we need several expensive books, RM100 is not enough.
“It would be more helpful if the voucher amount could cater to students based on their course requirements,” she said when met at the Kuala Lumpur International Book Fair 2024 yesterday.
Explaining how she struggled to juggle costs, Aleya said she and three friends bought one book to share, splitting the cost equally.
“Some of us scan the contents with our smartphones or make photocopies. We needed the book to do our exercises,” she said.
The book vouchers of RM100 each were announced at the official opening of the book fair on May 30 by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, for students from Year 4 to tertiary level.
In the form of an e-voucher available in phases on the Delima app and at Digital Book City, they can be redeemed until December 31.
Other students who said they struggled with the cost of books for each module every semester were foundation students in medical science, dentistry and science.
A group of them from Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia said they could buy used books from their seniors but risk using outdated versions.
“We have seven subjects per semester, which means we have to purchase books for seven modules. On average, it costs around RM300 per semester for the books alone.
“The voucher may not cover all our expenses, but at least it covers part of it,” said Tengku Aishah who was with a group of friends from the same foundation course at the book fair.
Meanwhile, students such as Hayati Mohd Din, 19, said she did not rely heavily on textbooks for her major in script writing at Universiti Teknologi Mara in Puncak Perdana.
“For this course, we rarely buy books because we just read from the slides provided by our lecturer, so we do not need to buy books.
“With the voucher, I can buy books for casual reading,” she said.
Similarly, Nor Azidatul Aisyah Noor Azman, 23, who is in her third year studying to be a laboratory technologist, said her course did not require many books, and she plans to spend her voucher on fiction books.
Physical education student Nik Muhamad Ammar Firdaus Nik Azmi, 22, from Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris, said the RM100 is just enough for the books needed for his course.
“Since my course has more practical activities, we don’t need as many books as other courses,” he said.
According to Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Zambry Abdul Kadir, the distribution of the book vouchers will benefit 1.2 million recipients from primary school to tertiary level.
The first distribution phase is part of the ministry’s effort to support the Kuala Lumpur International Book Fair 2024, which ended yesterday. – June 3, 2024