Teo: 6 sites sought for new Chinese primary schools

Deputy education minister says previous locations not strategic, among the new areas proposed are Batu Kawan, Alma, Melaka and Puchong.

Deputy Education Minister Teo Nie Ching says she will visit various states to pick the best locations for the schools.

GEORGE TOWN: The education ministry is in the process of identifying new locations for the construction of six new Chinese primary schools, said deputy minister Teo Nie Ching.

Teo said the previously identified locations, five in Selangor and one in Johor, were not strategic and unsuitable.

“Penang is the first state in this process of identifying suitable locations for new Chinese schools. Penang has a high number of Chinese residents.

“I have also met with Chong Eng (state assembly member for Padang Lalang, who chairs a committee overseeing Chinese schools and mission schools), Bukit Mertajam MP Steven Sim and Machang Bubuk assemblyman Lee Khai Loon.

“One of the strategic locations we have identified is Batu Kawan, Penang, which is in need of a Chinese school,” she said at a press conference here today.

Also present were Sim, Lee and Penang Education Department director Mohd Jamil Mohamed.

Sim later proposed that a new Chinese school be built in Alma, located in his constituency of Bukit Mertajam, as it was a booming residential area.

Teo said she will also be making a visit to Melaka, where she has received feedback that the state has been asking for a new Chinese school.

“I will also look into Selangor, in particular the Puchong area, which is in urgent need of Chinese schools. I also wish to get feedback from them,” she added.

Last month, Education Minister Maszlee Malik said the construction of eight new Chinese primary schools, approved by the Barisan Nasional administration, would be axed due to financial constraints.

He said the government would only proceed with two of the 10 new Chinese schools planned to be built. These two were chosen as the ground-breaking ceremony for them had already been held.

The relocation of another six vernacular schools will also proceed as planned by the previous administration. They are being shifted due to falling school enrolment.

The “10+6” schools were announced on Oct 26 last year by then Education Minister Mahdzir Khalid at a press conference attended by MCA president Liow Tiong Lai, MCA deputy president Wee Ka Siong and Gerakan president Mah Siew Keong.

Teo, on her first day at work, had been entrusted by Maszlee to meet Wee concerning the studies done before the previous government agreed to build the 10 new Chinese schools. -FMT