Sagah expects more funds for dilapidated schools in national Budget 2027

KUCHING: Education, Innovation and Talent Development Minister Datuk Seri Roland Sagah Wee Inn hopes the national Budget 2027 will bring more funds for dilapidated and new schools.

He said thought the budget has yet to be tabled, Sarawak basically wants more funds to build and repair dilapidated schools, as well as new schools already requested by the state.

“I always expect a lot, but sometimes it’s only great expectations. We hope for the best,” he said when met by reporters after an event here, today.

On the progress of repairing dilapidated schools, Sagah said about 600 of the 1,200 schools previously identified have been completed.

He said the schools are graded on a scale of one to seven by the state Education Department, with seven being the worst.

“Some are still under construction, and some have not been retendered yet,” he said.

Sagah said the RM1 billion allocation had not been fully spent as construction takes time and some contractors had run into difficulties, causing projects to stall.

“We have fully utilised it, but it is due to capacity. The Public Works Department (JKR) is the one that tenders it out, so sometimes they have to look at how many contractors we have in Sarawak and how many take up the offers,” he said.

He added that Sarawak lacks enough workers for building works, including general labourers, although there are many skills trainers.

On teacher recruitment, he said the intake is handled by the Education Service Commission (SPP), which will make offers to successful applicants, but no timeline has been announced.

He said though Sarawak does not face a major shortage — at most about 1,000 teachers — there is however a lack of option teachers, especially in science subjects.