TUMPAT: The Education Ministry will introduce new standard operating procedures (SOP) to prevent schools from suffering losses due to flood.
Ministry secretary-general Datuk Ruji Ubi said the SOP, which would begin in the 2025 school session, applies to all schools nationwide.
He said it would requires all schools affected by floods to move several rooms, including the teacher rooms, the text books and the laboratory, to the upper levels.
"During my series of visits to a few states affected by floods, including Kedah recently and Kelantan today, l witnessed a lot of text books, furniture and other equipments in these rooms were badly damaged by the first wave of floods.
"The damages suffered by these schools were huge and all schools are facing similar problems as the rooms located on the ground floor were inundated by floodwater.
"Therefore, the ministry is planning to have a new SOP whereby these three kinds of rooms will be moved to the first or second floors of the schools.
"This will prevent more losses suffered by the school's administration," he said after visiting SMK Meranti here.
Ruji said he believed classrooms for students were more suitable to be placed at the ground floor of schools.
"We can use plastic equipment for the class furniture as this will help reduce the cost," he added.
He added that state and district Education offices of affected states have been told to assist the ministry by providing details on schools in flood-prone areas.
"I will also bring this issue to the ministry level soon," he added.
On today's visit, he said SMK Meranti was among the 15 schools in Kelantan that were badly affected by the first wave of flood.
"The 15 schools were located in Pasir Mas and Tumpat districts.
"The education officers at the respective districts have been told to gather all the details on the damage suffered by these 15 schools for the next course of action," he added.