A total of 11,160 students from 13 primary and secondary schools in the Lembah Pantai area received stationery in conjunction with the 2013 new school session which started today.

Federal Territories and Urban Wellbeing Minister, Datuk Raja Nong Chik Raja Zainal Abidin said the contribution was to lift the spirit of the students, especially those who had just started schooling.

"We want these children to be happy and motivated, while the contribution is also to lessen the parents' financial burden of providing for their children's schooling needs," he said when visiting Sekolah Kebangsaan (SK) Petaling 1, here, today.

Among the schools which received the contribution were SK Petaling 1, SK Petaling 2, SK Bukit Pantai, SK Seri Suria, Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan (SMK) Petaling and SMK Bukit Bandaraya.

The contribution of stationery including pencil boxes, rulers and erasers was first implemented in 2012, starting with SK Bukit Bandaraya.

Raja Nong Chik said students also received the early schooling aid of RM100 as announced by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak in 2011 and to be given out between this Jan 15 and Feb 15.

He said this was one of the initiatives by the government to assist the lower-income group, in line with the 1Malaysia 'People First, Performance Now' concept.