A Selangor state assemblyman urged the Education Ministry (MOE) to walk the talk and provide enough funding to all 10,223 schools nationwide for refurbishment and maintenance works.
“MOE was allocated RM50.4 bil under Budget 2021, the largest of the entire sum. Its minister Datuk Mohd Radzi Jidin vowed to use the funds to repair public schools and invest in the wellbeing of schoolchildren.
“But are these funds really reaching the schools that are in dire need of maintenance and upgrades?” asked Rajiv Rishyakaran in a statement.
Highlight a case in his own constituency, Rajiv said that SMK Sri Utama was facing several issues, which are:
- The grounds in the school are sinking, leaving cracks between the wall and the ground.
- The water pressure of the school is so low that the toilets on the higher floors cannot be used because water cannot reach it.
- The ceiling boards of the school are falling, which puts students and teachers who walk by the area at risk.
- The electricity supply for the school is always disrupted, leaving the school in a non-conducive environment to study.
- The gutters of the school are failing, with water not flowing properly and flooding several places.
Rajiv said that according to procedure, schools would reach out to the district education department (PPD), where the latter would inform the Public Works Department (PWD) to probe the complaints.
“SMK Sri Utama has lodged numerous complaints via the PPD but no action has been taken. Therefore, I had personally reached out to PWD and invited them to conduct a site-visit with me at the school, to which they obliged and are now looking into the matter,” said the Bukit Gasing lawmaker.
Apathy, lack of transparency
Training his guns against MOE, Rajiv said given that schools have not been in session for almost a year, the ministry should have taken the opportunity to repair and upgrade schools so as not to disrupt when schools are finally in session.
“Instead of sitting on their laurels and keeping mum, MOE should have taken proactive steps to ensure that all schools are maintained and not pose a safety hazard to students and teachers.
“In the last few months, the Government has announced a multitude of allocation aimed at assisting students and yet nobody has seen or received a single cent of this, from the promised infrastructure and network upgrade to the 150,000 laptops promised,” he stated.
Rajiv added that SMR Sri Utama is not the only school that needed financial aid for maintenance and upgrading at the area.
“There are many schools in Petaling Jaya, being a very old neighbourhood, they are mostly plagued by decaying roofs, electrical and wiring issues, structural damage and more,” he added.
Speaking to FocusM, Rajiv said the maintenance and refurbishment of Malaysian schools face two problems; which are apathy and lack of transparency.
Elaborating, the Selangor lawmaker said authorities do not really take such matters seriously and there was no way for Putrajaya to know the magnitude of the problem.
“As for my case, PWD said that they have yet to quantify the problem,” he said.
On the second problem, Rajiv said that there is lack of transparency on how MOE actually spends the billions allocated yearly to the ministry.
Offering solutions, Rajiv said that it was a simple of case of improving the management of schools.
“And this is also a good way to boost local economy as the contractors are Malaysians and they source for local products to make the repairs.
“Hence, you will give jobs to our local contractors and allow money to circulate inside the country,” he added. – Feb 15, 2021.
