THE Ministry of Education (MOE) has reiterated its assurance that no Chinese (SJKC) or Tamil vernacular schools (SJKT) will be closed under the Madani Government.
Deputy Minister of Education, Wong Kah Woh, said the government is committed to maintaining all existing schools as part of the national education system, including vernacular schools, which play an important role in the Malaysian education landscape.
“The commitment from the Madani Government is that under today's rule and administration, we guarantee that no school, whether national, SJKC or SJKT, will be closed.
“We want to maintain all the schools we have. So, with the confidence (guarantee) from the government, school staff and governing bodies should be able to focus on the development of their respective schools,” he said.
He was met by reporters after handing over the approval letter for the construction of the new SJKT Rajaji building, which was also attended by the Chairman of the Penang Special Committee for Tamil Schools, Datuk Seri S. Sundarajoo, today.
Wong said the government would also strengthen its commitment to the development of vernacular schools by increasing the allocation for the maintenance of SJKTs nationwide to RM50 million this year, compared to only RM20 million the previous year.
“Currently, the Ministry of Education is finalising the amount of allocation that will be channelled to each school with further announcements to be made from time to time,” he said.
Meanwhile, he said that SJKT Rajaji, which is 76 years old and has about 100 students, will be relocated to a new site covering 0.9 hectares in Farlim to provide a more comfortable learning environment.
According to him, the new school construction project is expected to be completed within 18 months and potentially start operations at the new location no later than the 2029 school session.
In another development, he said, 22 SJKTs with government-aided school status in Penang will receive new furniture and equipment worth more than RM1.156 million through allocations channelled by MITRA.
He said the supply process is expected to be implemented within the next one to two months after the needs of each school are identified.
He described the initiative as part of ongoing efforts to improve facilities at Tamil vernacular schools nationwide. – June 15, 2026
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