KUCHING: Sarawak is looking for adequate allocations under Budget 2024 to promptly see to all 1,020 dilapidated schools in the state.
Education, Innovation, and Talent Development Minister Datuk Roland Sagah said sufficient funding is needed to restore, build anew or relocate such schools.
“Our main goal is to restore all 1,020 dilapidated schools identified because the initial allocation of RM1 billion is only enough to renovate or build roughly 140 schools on average each year.
“So, you can imagine how much funding is required for all these schools,” he said.
“Additionally, we want the work to be carried out promptly because the longer we wait, the more critical and dilapidated the schools become.”
He made these remarks after attending the launching of the Continuous Professional Development Pedagogy Enhancement Programme for Science, Mathematics, and English Primary School Teachers in Sarawak here yesterday.
On Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s statement that the Education Ministry (MoE) would continue to receive significant allocations in the Budget, he said he had not received detailed information about it.
“We need detailed information about the allocation, including the type of assistance provided. But we hope that more funding will be allocated for the effort to restore all dilapidated schools for the well-being and future of Sarawak’s children,” he said.
The MoE received an allocation of RM55.2 billion in the 2023 Budget, compared to RM52.6 billion in the previous budget.
A total of RM2.3 billion from that was allocated to ensure the best infrastructure and learning facilities in all schools, including RM920 million for upgrading buildings and infrastructure in 380 dilapidated schools, particularly in Sabah and Sarawak, through a special procurement method for urgency.
As of June last year, a total of 33 out of 351 schools in the state were approved for upgrading and the construction of replacement buildings under the 12th Malaysia Plan Rolling Plan 1 (RP1) for the years 2021 to 2023.
From 2016 until now, a total of 381 projects to rebuild dilapidated schools in Sarawak have been approved, and of that number, 223 projects have been completed.
According to Sagah work on 140 more schools are in various stages of implementation and are expected to be completed within three years.
