The Malaysian Insight

SABAH needs around RM2.5 billion to repair more than 500 dilapidated schools statewide, said state Education and Innovation Minister Dr Yusof Yacob today. 

Each school requires an average RM5 million for repairs, and the state government is in the midst of raising the funds, he added.

“We will discuss with the federal government on the allocation and the state government will assist with whatever it can,” he said after visiting the new Tanjung Aru State Library in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah.

Lack of funding to repair schools in Sabah, many of which are in remote areas, has been a long-standing issue, with the state government saying Putrajaya should allocate more to resolve the matter.

A total of 587 schools, comprising more than half of all schools in Sabah, are categorised as dilapidated, making teaching and learning difficult for teachers and pupils due to the lack of facilities and poor infrastructure.

Yusof said priority for repairs would be given to schools categorised as unsafe. These are mostly primary schools. 

“We have 69 schools declared unsafe and we will try to repair all these schools first,” he said.

Education Minister Dr Maszlee Malik recently said that repair works at 153 schools in Sabah are ongoing, with an allocation of RM521.1 million.

Yusof added the state government would also wait for allocations under the 12th Malaysia Plan, starting in 2021, to repair and upgrade the remaining 518 schools. – April 1, 2019.