IPOH: The Education Ministry will discuss the matter of under-enrolled schools, especially in vernacular Tamil schools (SJKT) nationwide, with the respective state education departments.
Deputy minister Lim Hui Ying said the ministry was looking for a long-term method to resolve the issue so that Tamil schools, especially those in rural and estate areas could continue to operate.
"We will talk to the state Education Departments nationwide on the fewer number of pupils especially in schools that are located in the estate areas.
"We will examine this issue one by one and we will find a long-term solution," she told reporters after opening SJKT Gunung Rapat here, today.
SJKT Gunung Rapat which was previously located in Kampung Baharu Gunung Rapat was relocated to Jalan Sri Ampang here following the growing number of students.
The new school was built in 2016 and currently has six classrooms and eight other classes which could accommodate 200 students.
Last year, the then deputy Education Minister, Datuk Dr Mah Hang Soon said a total of 3,017 primary schools in the country were categorised as under-enrolled, with fewer than 150 pupils each.
This involves 2,034 national schools (SK), 616 vernacular Chinese schools (SJKC) and 367 vernacular Tamil schools (SJKT). There are a total of 5,877 national schools, 1,302 SJKC and 527 SJKT.