The government today announced an allocation of RM73.68 million for upgrading works on three types of schools in the state of Sarawak.

Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said RM25.68 million were for 130 missionary schools, RM20 million for 197 Chinese type national schools (SJKC) while RM28 million were for 1,266 national schools.

Muhyiddin, who is also the Education Minister, said as a start RM50,000 would be given to each missionary school in the near future through BN representatives in the areas concerned.

“The allocation's initial disbursement is RM6.5 million and the balance will be disbursed in the second round after that,” he told reporters in Kuching.

There are 197 Chinese schools in Sarawak of which 187 are primary SJKC schools while the other 10 are secondary schools.

Earlier Muhyiddin, who is also the BN deputy chairman, had attended a briefing on the preparations for the Sarawak state election together with top leaders of the Sarawak BN component parties at the Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) headquarters in Kuching.

Meanwhile, when approached by reporters, Sarawak Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud said the granting of the allocation showed that the federal government, led by Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, was concerned about the situation in Sarawak which was different from that of peninsular Malaysia.

"The prime minister could appreciate the whole picture regarding the conditions of schools in Sarawak, which are numerous and dilapidated.

"I say thank you for this special concern," he said.

Taib said many of the schools were built by the local councils, and the financial assistance channelled for repair works on the schools was timely because many of them were built using timber.

- Bernama