AN UMNO leader has questioned the Education Ministry’s silence over the existence of 19 dilapidated schools in Johor, as revealed by Menteri Besar Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi recently.
UMNO Supreme Council member Datuk Dr Mohd Puad Zarkashi was referring to Onn Hafiz’s winding-up speech in the state assembly on May 19 where the latter shared that out of the 19 schools in the “dilapidated” category, 14 had had allocations approved for repairs since 2021 but not one school had been completely repaired in three years.
“There has yet to be an explanation (about the matter) from the Education Ministry. The minister (Fadhlina Sidek) remains silent. Is this the work culture at the Education Ministry?” Puad said in a statement on Facebook today (May 22).
“The Education Ministry once returned RM800 mil unspent money from its annual budget to the Treasury but when schools in rural areas put in a request for allocation the answer they were given was that the ministry has no budget.”
Puad went on to suggest more frequent “spot checks” for the federal- and state-level ministers to check on the conditions of the dilapidated schools for themselves.
“The existing delivery system needs to be reviewed. It’s best that the allocation be handed over to the state government for easier access. The bureaucracy at the Education Ministry must be abolished,” he added. – May 22, 2024
Main pic credit: Sumberkini
