Maszlee wants Malaysian schools to go cashless

Last week, Education Minister Maszlee Malik announced that his ministry is making the effort to implement a cashless system in schools across Malaysia. He claimed that a few selected schools have agreed to let the ministry run a pilot test.

However, the system would not be introduced immediately as the suggestion is still in their prototype stage.

To support his claim, Maszlee cited China and how it turned into a cashless society that only relies on QR codes. He added that credit and debit cards are outdated.

The program is expected to help students on their financial literacy and encourage students to be prudent in their daily spending. In short, it teaches them to manage their finances and save money. Through this initiative, Maszlee hopes Malaysian students will be positively motivated to prioritize their expenses and prepare for their future.

Another benefit of this would be less incidents of theft amongst school children, and can also prevent children from misplacing their cash.

According to netizens, this techno-savvy feature has already been realized at some private schools in Malaysia.

But generally, netizens expressed mixed opinions about the cashless school system. Some commented that the Ministry of Education should prioritize on other pressing issues, while others think it is a great way to curb theft among schoolchildren.

Can the proposed system launch Malaysia into a more technologically advanced society and curb Malaysian students’ cash related problems?