BY Alexander Wong

YTL Foundation and Qualcomm have jointly distributed 50 laptops to SMK La Salle in Petaling Jaya and SMK Air Molek in Melaka. The laptops bundled with a 12-month Yes 4G subscription with 120GB of data is aimed at helping students to continue learning from home as school starts to reopen and transition to hybrid learning.

According to the press statement, the schools were given NEO laptops that are powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 7c compute platform. The device comes with 4GB RAM, 64GB SSD storage, and built-in 4G LTE connectivity for an always-on connection. The laptops are pre-installed with Microsoft Windows 10 Pro.

Qualcomm International Country Director Mr Goh Thih Liang said “Qualcomm understands how education is a key driver for economic growth and development and we are excited to collaborate with the YTL Foundation to bring educational laptops with mobile network connectivity to schools in Malaysia. During these challenging times, we’re committed to help bridge the learning gap and one of the ways we’re doing this is through our breakthrough innovations in mobile computing. Laptops to provide access to reliable and stable connectivity from almost anywhere is exactly what today’s students deserve for meeting the demands of modern educational needs.”

YTL Foundation Programme Director Kathleen Chew said “We are hopeful that all students will be able to return to school soon and resume in person classes. However, as it may be some time before all students are back in school full time, these laptops will be extremely useful to help students make up for the learning loss experienced in the many months of school closure. Since the start of the pandemic, YTL Foundation has in collaboration with YES and FrogAsia been supporting students with data, devices and learning resources under our Learn From Home Initiative.”

Last month, YTL Foundation has announced that it’s giving free 7GB of Yes 4G data each month to eligible university students for a period of one year. The free SIM card and data are offered with no strings attached and the campaign is available from October until September 2022. Existing users under the University Learn From Home are also able to extend their free data offer online.

During the tabling of Budget 2022, the government has announced the PerantiSiswa programme which aims at providing free tablets to B40 students. Registration for the tablet programme is set to begin in Q2 2022 and it will be offered via Celcom, Digi, Maxis, U Mobile, TM and YTL Communications.