Disrepair despair: A dilapidated classroom at the school in 2019.
KLUANG: Despite their buildings being deemed unsafe by the Public Works Department in 2019 due to termites, at least 69 students and teachers from SJK (T) Ladang Pamol here are insisting on staying put.
The authorities had asked them to relocate to a nearby Chinese school, but parents rejected the idea. Instead, they want the government to begin construction of a new school on an allocated 3.2ha site nearby.
The school’s development board chairman, P. Thurairaj, said parents were united in not wanting to move to the Chinese school, which was about 2km away.
“This termite issue has been raised many times since 2017. A 3.2ha site has already been earmarked for the school, along with the necessary development plan.
“Why can’t the Education Ministry allocate funds for the construction of the new school, which has two blocks, a field and a canteen?” he said.
He added that the new school would cost about RM4.6mil.
Thurairaj, who was also a pupil at the school, said in recent years the school’s structures had been giving way and a student was injured.
He added that the current school building was located on a 0.4ha site comprising six classrooms, a computer laboratory, headmaster and staff rooms, and a canteen.
It has about 11 teachers, including the headmaster.
“We have written to the Education Department numerous times about constructing the new school building, and suddenly, several days ago, they told us to move to the Chinese school next month.
“We hope the Education Minister or Johor Mentri Besar will come visit our school and see for themselves the dire condition of a government school,” he said, adding that three of his children also studied at the school.
Thurairaj said the school’s parent-teacher association has been doing its best to carry out repairs with its limited funds all these years, but the latest report showed that the school was in bad shape as even the foundation had been affected.
“Our children and teachers are in constant danger, and we hope something can be done as soon as possible,” he said, adding that his school was deemed the “worst off” among the 17 Tamil schools in Kluang.
