Deputy Information Communication and Culture Minister Joseph Salang today expressed disappointment over the attitude of some teachers in Sarawak who he claimed gave preference to their own children in the distribution of free netbooks under the 1Malaysia Computer Programme.

"In some schools, the children of teachers are given the netbooks first and only the remainder, if any, are distributed to the children of villagers," he told reporters after launching a communication and multimedia consumer empowerment programme in Miri.

There were clear guidelines on who were eligible to receive the free laptops but these were often ignored, he said.

As part of the National Broadband Initiative which seeks to enhance broadband access to more people in the country, Telekom Malaysia Berhad, in collaboration with the government, launched the broadband and netbook package specifically for low-income households.

To be eligible to subscribe for the Broadband with Netbook Package, the potential subscriber must be from households with a monthly income of RM3,000 and below for rural residents and RM5,000 and below for urban dwellers.

Salang said the first phase of the 1Malaysia computer programme involved the distribution of 123,000 netbooks, and the ministry was in the process of distributing 500,000 more units under the second phase.

He said the programme would be continued until the targeted one million netbooks had been given away.

The one-day programme of the Communication and Multimedia Consumer Forum of Malaysia was organised with the collaboration of the Malaysian Communication and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) and the Miri Consumers Association.

- Bernama