MORE than 15,000 teacher quarters nationwide are still vacant, although the Education Ministry has reduced the number by over 2,200 units in the past two years.
Deputy Education Minister Wong Kah Woh said there were 47,855 teacher quarters across the country, with 15,312 units unoccupied as of Sept 24.
This was down from 17,524 vacant units in November 2024.
“The number of unoccupied quarters has been reduced through various measures to make better use of the buildings,” Wong told the Dewan Rakyat. He said 2,212 units had been put to other uses over the past year or so.
Of these, 1,105 units were occupied by Education Ministry staff, while 548 were rented out to private agencies. Another 377 units were converted for other uses, 58 transferred to related agencies and 40 opened for shared use.
A further 84 units that were no longer safe to occupy were disposed of.
Wong was replying to Kamal Ashaari (PN-Kuala Krau), who asked about the number of occupied teacher quarters nationwide and the status of quarters in his constituency that were reportedly abandoned and overgrown.
On the Kuala Krau quarters, Wong said some were no longer suitable to live in and would require costly repairs.
