SARAWAK recorded 98.46 per cent preschool attendance rate among Year One pupils statewide.
Minister of Women, Early Childhood and Community Wellbeing Development Datuk Seri Fatimah Abdullah said the ministry is committed to ensuring every child has access to early learning opportunities, with the aim of achieving 100 per cent preschool attendance by 2030.
“As of Oct 31, 2025, Sarawak has 2,715 preschools and 233 early childcare centres, serving a total of 73,843 children,” she said in her ministerial winding up speech during the DUN Sitting today.
Fatimah said the state government has introduced several initiatives to ease the financial burden on families and support women’s participation in the workforce.
She said these include the RM100 registration subsidy per Sarawak child under the Annual Special Grant (GTK) and an increased allocation for TADIKA and TASKA fee subsidies from RM2.5 million to RM4 million.
“This year, 3,974 children have benefited from the fee subsidy. These measures are extremely beneficial in enabling working women to participate more actively in the workforce,” she said.
On the Endowment Fund Sarawak (EFS) 2.0, she said Affin Bank began managing the scheme on 1 January 2025. Each Sarawakian newborn now receives a RM1,000 savings package—RM550 in an Affin Islamic Term Deposit-i and RM450 in an Affin Emas Account-i.
“The package also includes complimentary takaful coverage of RM10,000 for one parent in the event of accidental death or permanent disability during the child’s first year,” she added.
Since its introduction in 2019, EFS has benefited 141,869 children, while the Bantuan Ibu Bersalin (BIB) programme has supported 90,504 mothers since 2020.
Looking ahead, Fatimah said the ministry will enhance EFS and BIB through an online Integrated Social Wellbeing Services platform by January 2026 to streamline applications, increase beneficiaries, speed up fund disbursement and reduce human errors.
