MOE to Study the Duration of The New School Construction Process to Avoid Delays

BY: Michelle Liew

The Ministry of Education (KPM) will consult and review the new school construction process to avoid a long construction period.

Its Deputy Minister, Lim Hui Ying said, the ministry is aware that there are school constructions that take between five to 10 years to complete.

"Regarding the guidelines in terms of infrastructure and others, at the moment we have not yet started the study, but we will review as I said earlier, we want to reduce the construction time and ensure that there is a need for the construction time (shortened).

"One of our problems is the handing over of land because the land must be under the Local Authority (PBT) and the ownership of the land is the main proposal before the construction of a school. We will refer back to all the guidelines," she said in the Dewan Rakyat on Monday.

Hui Ying (PH-Tanjong) said this in response to additional questions from Rodziah Ismail (PH-Ampang) and Abd Ghani Ahmad (PN-Jerlun).

Commenting further, she said that in an effort to plan the construction of a new school, the MoE obtains input and suggestions for school construction through an application by the State Education Department (JPN).

Apart from the availability of the site or land, she said that other things that are taken into account are the number and capacity of existing schools nearby, the population density in the surrounding area, the coverage of the population catchment area as well as the development planning of the area based on discussions with the PBT.

Regarding the construction project of SK Ukay Sungai Sering in the Bukit Antarabangsa area, Hui Ying said that the project approved in the 10th Malaysia Plan (RMK-10) could not be resumed during the period of RMK-11 and RMK-12 due to the change of site.

She explained that the original site of the project was in a three-scale slope area which required additional cost of slope protection and was not suitable for school construction.

"Thus, in 2018, MoE has identified a proposed new site for the construction of this school. The new site, which is land handed over to the developer, has been approved for the site owner's application to the Federal Land Commissioner (PTP) and is currently in the process of obtaining a grant.

"Currently, the construction status of this project is still in the pre-construction phase and in the final stage to appoint a consultant to prepare a building design plan and complete the application for Planning Permission (KM) and Building Plan (PB) with the PBT," she said.

She further expressed that the process of appointing consultants is expected to be completed this month, with the tender to be done next December.

Meanwhile, the initial works on the site are expected in February 2024 with a delayed construction period.