KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 13 — The Finance Ministry said today it approved on September 18 last year a request to procure Form Three school textbooks for the Dual Language Programme (DLP) via direct negotiation to expedite the process.

The ministry said it prioritised the welfare of students and would take the necessary actions to simplify procurement and financial processes to ensure study supplies were provided for.

"MoF always takes into consideration requests from any ministry or agency that needs to do procurement via direct negotiation to fulfil a critical and urgent need, especially for things that involve public interest and welfare,” said the Finance Ministry in a statement.

The Education Ministry said previously that schools providing the DLP for Form Three Science and Mathematics would only receive the textbooks in March because the Pakatan Harapan government wanted to avoid direct negotiation purchases.