PUTRAJAYA: The Education Ministry (MoE) has identified several areas, including in Selangor and Johor, to set up new schools.
Senior Education Minister Datuk Dr Radzi Jidin said rapid development of townships in the states had led to overcrowding of existing schools due the increasing number of residents.
"New residential schemes, especially urban areas, would mean more children are going to attend school there. We are giving special attention to this by constructing new schools and upgrading existing one to cater to more students.
"Proper maintenance is important to ensure schools are in good condition. Lack of maintenance will lead to more costs later due to repair works," he said.
Radzi said this in his speech while opening the Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) meeting and ground-breaking ceremony for upgrading works at SK Putrajaya Presint 18(2), involving the construction of a three-storey block with 18 classrooms, teachers' and meeting rooms, as well as a football field.
He said overcrowding in schools was so severe in some areas that one school in Klang recorded 4,000 students.
Radzi said several residential projects were currently being built in Putrajaya and there would be an increase in the number of students in coming years.
"There is one apartment project being built nearby with about 1,000 units. Let say, each household has one or two school-going children, from here we can roughly estimate the number of new students who will be coming here.
"Apart from SK Putrajaya Presint 18(2), other schools here are also undergoing upgrading works, namely in precincts 15, 17(2) and 5.
"Meanwhile, a new school, SK Putrajaya Presint 8(3) is currently under construction and is expected to be completed next year."
According to 2021 statistics, Putrajaya is home to about 103,700 people, with an annual population growth of 6.4 per cent.
There are 10,220 primary and secondary schools nationwide with about 4.9 million students, according to the MoE's data in 2020.
At a press conference later, he named limited available land to build new schools in densely-populated areas and growing costs as some of the challenges to meet the growing school population.
Up to 10 schools are built every year, he said, but the number was still insufficient in some places.
On a separate matter, he said the ministry was still studying a proposal to offer a permanent position for hostel wardens.
"Currently some teachers also act as wardens with a monthly allowance. We have to justify the creation of new positions. For example, the ministry applies for certain number of teachers (for certain subjects) based on needs.
"Creating a permanent position for hostel wardens will also involve a huge allocation."
He said the ministry was studying proposals to hire wardens for permanent positions, but faced limitations, including the budget required.
Yesterday, he announced that the monthly allowance for teachers who serve as wardens would be increased to RM300 from RM240 starting August, and chief wardens would receive a monthly allowance of RM350.
He was reported as saying that 3,813 more wardens would be placed in school hostels, in addition to the 6,055 existing ones.
