PETALING JAYA, Oct 15 — The colour of school students socks will be decided after discussions with stakeholders completed, says Education Minister Maszlee Malik.

"The ministry will issue official statement on the issue after reaching agreement with the relevant parties,” he told a news conference after visiting the Universiti Malaya Medical Centre (PPUM) here today.

He was commenting on the statement issued by Bumiputera Retailers Organisation vice-president Datuk Ameer Ali Mydin yesterday that urged the ministry to clarify whether the white socks currently worn by schoolchildren would be replaced with black, in line with the enforcement of black shoes.

On Saturday, the Education Ministry in a statement said the adoption of black shoes in government and government-aided schools would be fully enforced in 2021.

Meanwhile, on his visit to PPUM, Maszlee said the quality of the services to the community was good and it did not affect the teaching and learning sessions of students at the university teaching hospital (HPU).

"PPUM offers services on par with private hospitals and it is widely known. The role of the HPU is to train new doctors, and many doctors from government hospitals received their training at PPUM,” he said, adding that he would visit HPU in other hospitals to get information on HPU’s teaching and learning sessions. — Bernama