BELURAN: The Education Ministry is serious in implementing the legalisation or ownership transfer of school land from state governments to the Lands and Mines Director-General Department (JKPTG) to ease future planning of school infrastructure, says Datuk Dr Mohd Radzi Jidin.
The minister said the main factors causing efforts to upgrade schools, especially with dilapidated buildings, to be hindered were related to the status of school land.
“There are instances where the school site is not owned by JKPTG, so new construction efforts cannot be implemented.
“We are serious, and are discussing with state governments so that the legalisation can be done quickly,” he told Bernama after attending the Beluran district-level Teachers Day celebrations here yesterday.
Mohd Radzi said since he became the Education Minister, the amount of school land that had been successfully legalised had increased.
He said Sabah and Sarawak were among the states that had school land with unresolved ownership issues but did not state the amount involved. He also said schools in Felda settlements were among the areas involved.
In conjunction with his two-day working visit to Beluran, Mohd Radzi announced an additional allocation of RM1mil to the Beluran Education Office to resolve outstanding issues that required immediate solutions to enable students in the district to study in a more conducive and comfortable environment.
He also asked all district education officers to conduct school visits more frequently to identify the problems there and take immediate action to resolve it.
Agriculture and Food Industry Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ronald Kiandee, who is also Beluran MP, said at the same event that if rural students were given the opportunity for a comprehensive education, they had the potential to do well in life.