Chong (fifth left) with Dr Sim (fifth right), Sudarsono (second right) and others pose with the mock cheques during the presentation ceremony.
KUCHING: Special government allocations worth over RM8.8 million for aided Chinese primary schools (SJKC) and national type secondary schools (SMJK) in Sarawak were given out yesterday.
Deputy Education Minister Datuk Chong Sin Woon handed over cheques for RM7.115 million and RM1.69 million to 184 SJKC and 10 SMJK respectively during a ceremony at the state Education Department in Petra Jaya here yesterday.
In Kuching alone, a total of 56 SJKC and one SMJK stand to benefit from the special government allocations.
According to Chong, Sarawak is the state that has the highest number of SJKC in Malaysia.
Because of this, he said Sarawak was also the state which always received the most education funding for SJKC from the federal government.
Also with him at the ceremony was Minister of Education, Science and Technological Research Dato Sri Michael Manyin Jawong, who said Sarawak received a total of RM8.3 million in similar special allocations last year.
Of the total, he said RM7 million was meant for SJKC while the remaining RM1.3 million was for SMJK.
Manyin reiterated that Sarawak had 1,020 dilapidated schools which required more grants from Putrajaya in order to carry out repair and rebuilding works.
He hoped that the federal government would dole out more funds for the state to address dilapidated school issues.
According to Manyin, Sarawak needs at least RM3 billion to repair and rebuild all dilapidated schools.
Among those present were Local Government and Housing Minister Datuk Dr Sim Kui Hian, who is also Sarawak United Peoples’ Party (SUPP) president; and permanent secretary to the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Research Datu Sudarsono Osman.