KLANG: The Education Ministry is working to resolve the overcrowding issue at 86 high-density schools nationwide, says Fadhlina Sidek.
The Education Minister said Selangor leads in the overall number of students.
“The school administration, district Education Offices and state Education Departments have (implemented) several measures to address the issue, including setting up floating classrooms,” she told reporters after visiting SMK Meru here.
She attended a parliamentary follow-up programme on school density and access to education in the Klang district yesterday.
Fadhlina said the implementation of floating classes as a short-term solution ensures minimal disruption to students’ learning and maintains normal school operations.
To implement the move, the ministry plans to utilise available spaces such as workshops, laboratories and health rooms to create fully-functional classrooms dedicated to specific subjects.
Fadhlina said that the setting up of floating classrooms will, however, vary between each school, depending on its unique dynamics.
“The Education Ministry will evaluate them... to decide if floating classes are necessary.
“Floating classes will only be implemented in schools, which have extra classes.
“However, if space is limited, alternative methods must be found to ensure learning conditions for students are conducive,” she said.
Among the ways the ministry is exploring is dispersing these students to other schools, aiming at optimising schools around the area to become preferred choices for the community.
The ministry’s interventions in resolving overcrowding in schools have started at SMK Meru, which boasts the highest student population – 4,108 students and 240 teachers.
Fadhlina said the school is in the process of constructing eight new classrooms to address the matter while 18 are being added in SMK Bukit Kapar.
She added that building new schools in the long run could help alleviate overcrowding issues in existing schools.
“We’ve already included this in our long-term plans, with new schools currently in the planning and development stages.
“However, our framework focuses on short and medium-term interventions exclusively.
“The ministry is exploring these interventions to determine if other densely populated schools can adopt the same formula,” she said.
