PUTRAJAYA (Jan 13): The ministry of finance (MoF) has given special approval for the acquisition of textbooks for the dual language programme (DLP) through direct negotiations.

The ministry said in a statement today that the special approval on Sept 18 last year, was for the needs of the students to be met  as soon as possible.

It said the ministry was very concerned over the welfare of the students and would take the necessary action in facilitating finance and procurement procedures to ensure that they were well prepared with the learning tools.

"As such, the acquisition process of  the DLP textbooks for PT3  (Form Three Assessment)  had received due attention, and the MoF had given special approval for the application of the procurement of textbooks through direct negotiation on Sept 18, 2018," added the statement.

It said the MoF had always considered applications from any ministry or agency that had a critical or urgent need to execute direct negotiations for procurement purposes especially for matters involving the interests and welfare of the people.

Last Wednesday, the education ministry said in a statement that DLP textbooks for all schools offering Form 3 Mathematics and Science subjects would be supplied and distributed in March.

According to the statement, it could not supply the textbooks at the start of the new school year (early this month) as there were changes to improve the procurement system and to prevent direct negotiations which came into effect in the middle of last year.