Additional RM25 mln for religious schools

PUTRAJAYA: The Ministry of Finance has for the first time approved an additional allocation of RM25 million for the Ministry of Education to upgrade and carry out maintenance works for registered public and private religious schools.

Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng said the additional funds took the total allocation in Budget 2019 for upgrading and maintaining schools and educational institutions to RM677 million, up from the RM600 million allocated last year.

“The government cares about the welfare of students, schools and educational institutions so that the quality of education delivered is satisfactory.

“The government also wants to ensure a safe and healthy learning environment for students,” he said during the ceremony to present the cheque for the allocation to Education Minister Dr Maszlee Malik, here yesterday.

Lim said Budget 2019 had also allocated RM25 million for registered pondok schools, RM50 million for registered tahfiz schools and RM15 million for Universiti Islam Malaysia.

Meanwhile, Maszlee said the Ministry of Education, through a committee, would identify potential high-performing public and private religious schools to be given priority under the allocation.

He said a mechanism would be set up to determine which schools needed assistance based on three criteria, namely performance, quality and impact on students.