KUALA LUMPUR: More than 35% of teachers’ quarters under the Education Ministry are unoccupied, the Dewan Rakyat was told.
Deputy Education Minister Wong Kah Woh said of a total of 47,855 units, some 17,524 units were vacant.
He said the ministry took a year from Dec 2022 to study ways to use unoccupied teachers' quarters.
Findings revealed that almost half of the units (7,201) should have its functions changed from its original purpose.
“The recommendations (from the study) also proposed that the other 1,496 units be used by other agencies, 1,900 units to be rented to the public, 88 to be sold, 16 to be rebuilt and 671 to be demolished,” he added.
He said this in response to a supplementary question from Mohd Nazri Abu Hassan (PN Merbok) who asked whether the ministry will collaborate with other ministers to utilise the vacant teachers’ quarters, as some neglected quarters have become a den for drug addicts and wild animals like snakes.
Wong said these findings had been presented to the Cabinet on Nov 12, including suggestions for the Education Ministry to collaborate with other government-linked companies (GLCs), government-linked investment companies (GLICs), and agencies to identify suitable quarters for rent or use.
Wong added that 11,035 units are in strategic areas, while 204 are not.
“Majority of these quarters are located in strategic areas, and the ministry is confident that we are capable of collaborating with other ministries, such as the Housing and Local Government Ministry and Home Ministry, with some expressing interest to take over or rent these quarters,” he said.
He also said that new quarters will be built near rural schools.
