PUTRAJAYA, Aug 2 — The Government has started distributing a RM25 million special allocation for maintenance to 157 Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan Tamil (SJKT) categorised as government schools from this month.
Deputy Education Minister Datuk P. Kamalanathan said the first phase of the funding was part of a RM50 million provision, allocated for the year in Budget 2017 tabled by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.
He said overall there were 524 SJKTs in the country, out of which 367 were government-aided schools and 157 government schools and so far the provision has only been given to the aided schools.
“But this time, the allocation will also be given to the government schools to enable these schools to carry out upgrading and maintenance works,” he said at a media conference here today on the provision of RM50 million for Special Maintenance for Government SJKTs 2017.
According to him, the allocation was distributed to 49 SJKTs in Perak, Selangor (31), Johor (18), Negri Sembilan (14), Kedah (12), Pahang (11), Melaka (eight), six schools respectively in Penang and the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur as well as one school each in Kelantan and Perlis.
Kamalanathan said the second phase of the distribution of the remaining RM25 million allocation this year is expected to be made in September, to several government-aided schools to upgrade the furniture and infrastructure of the SJKTs.
“Among the key requirement for the SJKTs to receive the Budget 2017 government assistance allocation is that they need to send a preliminary report on the use of previous budget provisions to ensure that the funds are being used prudently. The ministry will continue to monitor the use of funds to ensure the process is transparent,” he said.
Elaborating, Kamalanathan said 368 government-aided schools had received RM66.5 million in aid through the 2015-16 budgets. — Bernama
