A total of 10,000 Bumiputera children will be identified to pursue their studies at specified fields through the 'Kembara Kesedaran Pendidikan Anak Desa MADANI' (KeDESA) initiative. Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said to ensure the success of the initiative, KeDESA will tour 40 rural areas and interiors throughout the country between three to six months to identify qualified Bumiputera children. Ahmad Zahid who is also the Minister of Rural and Regional Development said the programme would be carried out by the Gerakan Pendidikan Bumiputera Malaysia (GPBM). "I am pleased and fully support the KeDESA programme because the KeDESA programme emphasises on searching and identifying qualified students with the potential to continue in specialised fields. "It also helps to create awareness on the importance of education to serve as a medium for students and higher learning institutions to pursue their studies at a higher level and acquire skills in line with the aspirations of Malaysia M ADANI," he said in his speech while flagging off the KeDESA tour, here today. Also present at the flagging off was Majlis Amanah Rakyat (MARA) chairman Datuk Dr Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki and KeDESA Central Committee chairman and GPBM advisor Datuk Nurulhidayah Ahmad Zahid. Meanwhile, Nurulhidayah said the idea to set up KeDESA came about following concerns related to statistics that showed 10,160 of the 383,685 candidates for Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) 2023, did not sit for the exam. 'Imagine what a loss it will be for them in the long term. That is why GPBM took this special initiative through KeDESA to prevent more students from being left behind,' she said. The KeDESA programme which starts this month will continue until December. Source: BERNAMA News Agency