The old wooden structures of SK Sg Selidap, Bitangor, Sarawak, have been completely rebuilt today.
THE Education Ministry has been hard at work fixing and rebuilding rundown schools scattered around the country.
To date, their efforts have paid off with around half of the estimated 1,200 dilapidated schools already safe for occupancy, undergoing work or pending approval to start renovation or reconstruction.
Around 1,200 dilapidated schools exist in Malaysia and they’re all vying for a slice of the relatively big allocation set aside in the national budget each year to fix them.
Education Ministry secretary-general Datuk Dr Mohd Gazali Abas said RM1.98bil had been used so far to repair or rebuild 600 of these schools.
Statistics from the ministry show that a total of 534 schools across Malaysia were involved in the Dilapidated Schools Extension Building Project from 2016 to 2018, with an allocation of RM1.8bil.
“We want to improve conditions in all these schools and we will need that same amount of money to fix the remaining 600 schools,” he added.
“Hopefully, we can fully improve the conditions in all these schools within the next two to three years.”
Once a dangerous building, SK Kitabu, Sabah, is now a safe learning space for pupils to utilise.
Most of these schools are in East Malaysia with some still in the process of being repaired while some have already been completed.
Mohd Gazali said the reason a lot of these schools are in Sabah and Sarawak is because these schools are spread out over a very wide area and some are not easily accessible.
“They are also in very rural areas and these schools, built more than 50 or 60 years ago, were made of wood,” he pointed out.
Old wooden structures cannot last very long in the tropics without constant maintenance.
States such as Kelantan and Pahang in Peninsular Malaysia, with vast areas of land and rural villages, also house a lot of dilapidated schools.
Mohd Gazali said that the ministry receives a significant allocation to fix dilapidated schools.
However, in the past, there was no system to determine which school needed to be prioritised.
Now, they have created a scale from one to seven to determine how dire the state of the school is in, he added.
“Seven is the most critical scale, as determined by a team from the Public Works Department (JKR).
“It could just be one building and not the whole school,” he explained.
He said schools rated seven on the scale will definitely receive the aid first compared to other dilapidated schools.
The crumbling wooden classrooms at SK Nibong, Pitas, Sabah, will soon be replaced with new and more durable structures.
This is then followed by those on the scale of six, five and so on.
To date, he said that there are more than 100 schools ranked seven while the remaining are ranked six.
“Right now, we are working on repairing and rebuilding around 600 schools and we will work on the others in the near future,” he pointed out.
The ministry also received a separate RM400mil in Budget 2019 for the maintenance of schools.
Mohd Gazali said that this allocation is sometimes used to upkeep the buildings in dilapidated schools until they can receive proper funding for a full repair or rebuild.
Mohd Gazali added that the schools are rated based on how safe the building is and whether it houses rooms or facilities that are important in the teaching and learning process.
“We decide based on feedback from JKR and our own technicians and also visual observance,” he said, adding that a sudden sinkhole or a slanting building is obviously an unsafe structure that requires urgent attention.
“It doesn’t matter if the damage happened just yesterday. That is why we have an emergency allocation for damage caused by floods or storms.
“It is only logical that we completely rebuild buildings that have been certified unsafe by JKR and not just repair them,” he added.
The Education Ministry needs the help of the public, especially the corporate sector, to step in and help restore and rebuild the dilapidated schools scattered around the country.
Ministry officials inspecting one of the rundown buildings at SK Sg Setiam in Bintulu, Sarawak.
Mohd Gazali said although the ministry receives the biggest allocation in the national budget every year, the money is spread out throughout their many sectors.
Still, these schools, with their unsafe structures that cannot be used by students, also desperately need to be repaired urgently if the teaching and learning process is to continue.
Hence, the ministry launched the Maintenance Trust Funds for Government Schools and Public Institutions of Higher Education (Amanah Tabung Penyelenggaraan Sekolah Kerajaan dan Institusi Pendidikan Tinggi Awam).
“The government will continue to allocate money (to fix dilapidated schools) but the actual amount needed is likely to be much higher,” he added.
“So for that reason, we have provided a platform for the industry and the public to contribute together.”
Mohd Gazali said donations can be funnelled towards specific schools chosen by the donor.
For example, a person can contribute funds specifically meant for his particular former school and the ministry will fulfil his wish.
One can even specify that he would like the donation to be used to fix toilets in poor condition or build ramps for disabled (OKU) students, he added.
He also said that we should ensure the marginalised communities such as those in rural areas and the OKU enjoy the same facilities as those enjoyed by the majority of students in the country.
Mohd Gazali said response to the fund has been lukewarm so far due to it just being launched, adding that the public are not fully aware of the fund.
He encouraged more people to step forward and contribute to the fund.
“Corporate bodies will also enjoy a tax exemption,” he said, adding that this is an incentive to encourage bigger donations.
He also said that the ministry will be going down to the ground to mobilise parent-teacher associations, community leaders, universities and other stakeholders to educate them on the need for this fund and how to contribute towards it.
“The fund isn’t limited to just dilapidated schools. Even new schools need to have such a fund just to maintain the infrastructure.”
Public institutions of higher education can also benefit from the fund for the same reason, said Mohd Gazali.
He pointed out that all schools experience wear and tear.
However, there are plenty of reasons for the condition of these schools to have deteriorated to the point of being a health and safety hazard.
The first being the age of the school itself with some schools being over a hundred years old, he said.
Another factor is the building material used cannot withstand the weather such as wood.
Then there are school structures that have become hazardous due to natural disasters.
“Even new schools will become dilapidated and unsafe due to the frequent natural disasters and floods that hit every year,” he said on Bernama News Channel’s Ruang Bicara show.
“I’ve been to schools in Sarawak and rural Kelantan that were affected by landslides,” he added.
He also said that the ministry has employed the industrialised building system (IBS) to upgrade or rebuild dilapidated school buildings.
IBS is a construction method where its components are produced under controlled conditions, either in the factory or on the site, transported and installed at the site using minimal workers and effort.
Among the objectives of using this system is to improve the quality and productivity of construction, simplify the design, reduce construction time as well as reduce dependence on foreign workers.
This ultimately leads to savings in cost.
Although the IBS approach is cheaper and faster compared to conventional building methods, it cannot be used in all locations due to the geography of that area.
“We’re also still using conventional building techniques with bricks and such,” added Mohd Gazali.
A total of 452 dilapidated schools have been completed and already being used from 2016 to this year.
While the remaining 82 are still being built and 65 more schools will be ready by the end of 2019.
The government has allocated RM128mil in 2019 to rebuild 43 dilapidated schools – eight in the peninsula, 32 in Sarawak and three in Sabah.
To date, one of these schools in the peninsula has received its Certificates of Practical Completion, 37 are being built and the others are still at the acquisition stage.
To date, their efforts have paid off with around half of the estimated 1,200 dilapidated schools already safe for occupancy, undergoing work or pending approval to start renovation or reconstruction.
Around 1,200 dilapidated schools exist in Malaysia and they’re all vying for a slice of the relatively big allocation set aside in the national budget each year to fix them.
Education Ministry secretary-general Datuk Dr Mohd Gazali Abas said RM1.98bil had been used so far to repair or rebuild 600 of these schools.
Statistics from the ministry show that a total of 534 schools across Malaysia were involved in the Dilapidated Schools Extension Building Project from 2016 to 2018, with an allocation of RM1.8bil.
“We want to improve conditions in all these schools and we will need that same amount of money to fix the remaining 600 schools,” he added.
“Hopefully, we can fully improve the conditions in all these schools within the next two to three years.”
Once a dangerous building, SK Kitabu, Sabah, is now a safe learning space for pupils to utilise.Most of these schools are in East Malaysia with some still in the process of being repaired while some have already been completed.
Mohd Gazali said the reason a lot of these schools are in Sabah and Sarawak is because these schools are spread out over a very wide area and some are not easily accessible.
“They are also in very rural areas and these schools, built more than 50 or 60 years ago, were made of wood,” he pointed out.
Old wooden structures cannot last very long in the tropics without constant maintenance.
States such as Kelantan and Pahang in Peninsular Malaysia, with vast areas of land and rural villages, also house a lot of dilapidated schools.
Mohd Gazali said that the ministry receives a significant allocation to fix dilapidated schools.
However, in the past, there was no system to determine which school needed to be prioritised.
Now, they have created a scale from one to seven to determine how dire the state of the school is in, he added.
“Seven is the most critical scale, as determined by a team from the Public Works Department (JKR).
“It could just be one building and not the whole school,” he explained.
He said schools rated seven on the scale will definitely receive the aid first compared to other dilapidated schools.
The crumbling wooden classrooms at SK Nibong, Pitas, Sabah, will soon be replaced with new and more durable structures.This is then followed by those on the scale of six, five and so on.
To date, he said that there are more than 100 schools ranked seven while the remaining are ranked six.
“Right now, we are working on repairing and rebuilding around 600 schools and we will work on the others in the near future,” he pointed out.
The ministry also received a separate RM400mil in Budget 2019 for the maintenance of schools.
Mohd Gazali said that this allocation is sometimes used to upkeep the buildings in dilapidated schools until they can receive proper funding for a full repair or rebuild.
Mohd Gazali added that the schools are rated based on how safe the building is and whether it houses rooms or facilities that are important in the teaching and learning process.
“We decide based on feedback from JKR and our own technicians and also visual observance,” he said, adding that a sudden sinkhole or a slanting building is obviously an unsafe structure that requires urgent attention.
“It doesn’t matter if the damage happened just yesterday. That is why we have an emergency allocation for damage caused by floods or storms.
“It is only logical that we completely rebuild buildings that have been certified unsafe by JKR and not just repair them,” he added.
The Education Ministry needs the help of the public, especially the corporate sector, to step in and help restore and rebuild the dilapidated schools scattered around the country.
Ministry officials inspecting one of the rundown buildings at SK Sg Setiam in Bintulu, Sarawak.Mohd Gazali said although the ministry receives the biggest allocation in the national budget every year, the money is spread out throughout their many sectors.
Still, these schools, with their unsafe structures that cannot be used by students, also desperately need to be repaired urgently if the teaching and learning process is to continue.
Hence, the ministry launched the Maintenance Trust Funds for Government Schools and Public Institutions of Higher Education (Amanah Tabung Penyelenggaraan Sekolah Kerajaan dan Institusi Pendidikan Tinggi Awam).
“The government will continue to allocate money (to fix dilapidated schools) but the actual amount needed is likely to be much higher,” he added.
“So for that reason, we have provided a platform for the industry and the public to contribute together.”
Mohd Gazali said donations can be funnelled towards specific schools chosen by the donor.
For example, a person can contribute funds specifically meant for his particular former school and the ministry will fulfil his wish.
One can even specify that he would like the donation to be used to fix toilets in poor condition or build ramps for disabled (OKU) students, he added.
He also said that we should ensure the marginalised communities such as those in rural areas and the OKU enjoy the same facilities as those enjoyed by the majority of students in the country.
Mohd Gazali said response to the fund has been lukewarm so far due to it just being launched, adding that the public are not fully aware of the fund.
He encouraged more people to step forward and contribute to the fund.
“Corporate bodies will also enjoy a tax exemption,” he said, adding that this is an incentive to encourage bigger donations.
He also said that the ministry will be going down to the ground to mobilise parent-teacher associations, community leaders, universities and other stakeholders to educate them on the need for this fund and how to contribute towards it.
“The fund isn’t limited to just dilapidated schools. Even new schools need to have such a fund just to maintain the infrastructure.”
Public institutions of higher education can also benefit from the fund for the same reason, said Mohd Gazali.
He pointed out that all schools experience wear and tear.
However, there are plenty of reasons for the condition of these schools to have deteriorated to the point of being a health and safety hazard.
The first being the age of the school itself with some schools being over a hundred years old, he said.
Another factor is the building material used cannot withstand the weather such as wood.
Then there are school structures that have become hazardous due to natural disasters.
“Even new schools will become dilapidated and unsafe due to the frequent natural disasters and floods that hit every year,” he said on Bernama News Channel’s Ruang Bicara show.
“I’ve been to schools in Sarawak and rural Kelantan that were affected by landslides,” he added.
He also said that the ministry has employed the industrialised building system (IBS) to upgrade or rebuild dilapidated school buildings.
IBS is a construction method where its components are produced under controlled conditions, either in the factory or on the site, transported and installed at the site using minimal workers and effort.
Among the objectives of using this system is to improve the quality and productivity of construction, simplify the design, reduce construction time as well as reduce dependence on foreign workers.
This ultimately leads to savings in cost.
Although the IBS approach is cheaper and faster compared to conventional building methods, it cannot be used in all locations due to the geography of that area.
“We’re also still using conventional building techniques with bricks and such,” added Mohd Gazali.
A total of 452 dilapidated schools have been completed and already being used from 2016 to this year.
While the remaining 82 are still being built and 65 more schools will be ready by the end of 2019.
The government has allocated RM128mil in 2019 to rebuild 43 dilapidated schools – eight in the peninsula, 32 in Sarawak and three in Sabah.
To date, one of these schools in the peninsula has received its Certificates of Practical Completion, 37 are being built and the others are still at the acquisition stage.
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