PETALING JAYA: The Education Ministry has applied for an emergency allocation for schools affected by the floods.

       Minister Datuk Dr Radzi Jidin applied for the funding from the Finance Ministry and had formulated a flood relief plan, said his deputy Datuk Dr Mah Hang Soon.

       “Every school will need to follow the state education department and the district education offices’ instructions, and fill out the information about the school’s damage so that the ministry can offer assistance soon,” he said.

       Mah said the allocation would be for post-flood recovery activities to repair and replace damaged facilities.

       “In the past week, various educational organisations and school boards have reported to us about the situation affecting schools.

       “The ministry will assist in replacing damaged tables, chairs, furniture and textbooks in disaster-affected schools. This would allow them to reopen smoothly on Jan 10,” he said in a statement after visiting schools affected by the floods yesterday.

       On Dec 26, Radzi said the ministry would examine the need for any school to further postpone the opening of the third term of the 2021/2022 session based on how badly they had been affected by the floods.

       Earlier, he announced that the third term of the 2021/2022 school session, which was supposed to begin on Jan 2 for Group A and Jan 3 for Group B, had to be postponed by a week because of the floods.

       Schools in Group A will begin on Jan 9 and those in Group B on Jan 10.

       Group A refers to the states of Johor, Kedah, Kelantan and Terengganu, while Group B comprises the states of Selangor, Melaka, Negri Sembilan, Pahang, Perak, Perlis, Penang, Sabah, Sarawak, and the three Federal Territories of Kuala Lumpur, Labuan and Putrajaya.