OVER RM2bil has been allocated towards repairing and maintaining schools nationwide, says Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
The Prime Minister said RM1bil will be used specifically for maintaining all types of schools, especially those with dilapidated classrooms.
This includes national schools, Chinese schools, Tamil schools, religious schools, schools in military camps and special education schools.
He said a separate RM1bil will be used for upgrading dilapidated infrastructure in 543 schools, especially in Sabah and Sarawak, while another RM100mil has been allocated to repair other school facilities such as the canteen and surau.
Another 44 new schools will also be built next year.
Considering the sizeable allocations, Malaysian Association for Education (MAE) secretary Hamidi Mookkaiyah Abdullah said the funds must be utilised and disbursed properly.
He suggested the government set up a watchdog to ensure the work carried out is of quality before payment is made to “ensure there is no sloppiness in the completed work.”
Educationist and former Universiti Malaya professor Tan Sri Dr T. Marimuthu said providing adequate funds to repair, maintain and build new infrastructure could boost the education performance of the students in those schools.
He also said from his observation over the past two to three decades, the infrastructure of many schools – especially rural schools in Sabah and Sarawak – has improved by leaps and bounds.
“Overall, I think this is a very caring national budget. Mainly because the education and health sectors are the highest two respectively,” he added.
SMK (P) Jalan Ipoh Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) chairman Nor Adilah Osman said the government needs to make sure that officers involved always visit the repairing or building projects, as well as monitor the progress of maintaining the schools so that they run smoothly.
She also said while it is commendable that funds have been set aside to repair schools, a special allocation should be set aside for PTAs for any emergency repairs.
“Sometimes, there are ceiling leaks or trees that fall on buildings which needs urgent funds,” she added.
