PM confirms Raya bonus for civil service but mum on size

GEORGE TOWN, May 16 — Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad assured civil servants today that they should expect a bonus payment in conjunction with Hari Raya Aidilfitri.

He said the federal government will announce the size of the bonus soon.

“Yes, there is a bonus, we will announce it soon,” he told reporters briefly without elaborating.

Several state governments including Penang, Kedah and Melaka have declared a half-month bonus or a minimum of RM1,000 each for public workers in state agencies while the federal government has yet to do so.

The first day of Aidilfitri is expected to be on June 5 this year.

Earlier, Dr Mahathir, who opened the National Teacher’s Day Celebration at Spice Arena here, said the federal government’s prioritisation of education was evidenced by the allocation of RM60.2 billion for the Education Ministry in the 2019 Budget.

He also noted that Malaysia was 19th out of 141 countries under Quality Education Index 2018 according to a World Economic Forum report.

“This achievement showed that Malaysia is on the right track to be recognised as a competitive and progressive nation in terms of education compared to other developed countries,” he said during his speech.

He also stressed on the importance of students mastering the English language.

“To encourage students to be bilingual, the ministry has launched two programmes, the Highly Immersive Programme and the Dual Language Programme,” he said.

He said the Highly Immersive Programme was implemented in 10,000 schools last year and this year, the programme will be expanded to all educational institutions under the ministry.

“The Dual Language Programme will give students a chance to learn Mathematics, Science, Information and Communication Technology and Design and Technology in English,” he said.

This year, he said the federal government also allocated RM652 million to upgrade and maintain the infrastructure for all schools nationwide.