
Wee Ka Siong (BN-Air Hitam) said those behind some of the proposed schools had already submitted their plans but there was no response from the education ministry.
Wee said without the green light from the ministry, construction of these schools could not begin.
“Many boards of governors of these schools have collected donations and they have enough (funds) to build schools.
“They have all the necessary approvals, just not the ministry’s. The ministry’s EPRD (education planning and research department) should approve them right away,” he said in debating the education sector’s allocation under the budget.
Wee revealed that over RM20 million had been collected from the public for two vernacular schools in Johor Bahru, SJK(C) Kuek Ho Yao and SJK(C) Mao Yi, but construction could not begin as the ministry had yet to approve these.
Wee, who is also the MCA president, said there were many Chinese schools that had already broken ground but suffered from the same fate.