Education Ministry to focus on dilapidated schools on scale seven in Sarawak next year

SIBU - Efforts to address the issue of dilapidated schools on a scale of seven in Sarawak will be among the Education’s Ministry (MOE) main focuses next year.

Deputy Education Minister Lim Hui Ying said that the dilapidated schools on a scale of seven should be demolished and rebuilt, and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, also raised the issue of such schools in Sarawak this year.

"We are in the process of fixing the problems, as many dilapidated schools in Sarawak are on a scale of seven, which means the school must be demolished and rebuilt. This is one of the wishes of the Prime Minister, and MOE is expediting the process,” she said to reporters, after a working visit to Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan (SMK) St Elizabeth today.

Buildings rated one to four on the scale are still functioning, safe to be used, and need only periodic maintenance, while buildings rated five are deemed to be unsafe as reported by the school management, and needing maintenance.

Schools on a scale of six meant that the building was unsafe as justified by the technical department of the district education office, and buildings on a scale of seven refer to buildings that were unsafe and recommended to be demolished by the Public Works Department.

Lim, who is on a 10-day working visit to Sarawak which ended today, said that she visited 17 government-aided schools in Miri, Bintulu, Kuching, Sarikei and Sibu, in addition to distributing maintenance allocations, amounting to RM2.34 million, to 23 schools.

Apart from focusing on dilapidated schools on a scale of seven in the state, she said that the ministry was also trying to deal with the issue of student dropouts in the interior of Sarawak, and will study the solutions.

Also present during her visit to SMK St Elizabeth were the Dewan Rakyat deputy speaker and Member of Parliament (MP) for Lanang, Alice Lau Kiong Yieng and MP for Sibu, Oscar Ling. - BERNAMA