AUDIT REPORT Students, studying at an Islamic secondary boarding school in Johor have been deprived of food as a result of cost-saving measures by the schools' food providers.

The students at Sekolah Menengah Agama Kerajaan Johor in Kluang are deprive of up to 170 grammes of food each daily as a result of a reduction in menu items, the Auditor-General’s Report 2014 says.

170 grammes of food is equivalent to a cheeseburger.

"As many as 24 lunch and dinner menus for each month have been reduced from two heavy dishes to one heavy dish, for the same contract price," the report says.

The Johor Islamic Affairs Department (JAINJ) said in reply to the auditor-general that the menu was reduced because the original dishes were too expensive.

An audit of another Islamic boarding school, Maahad Johor, showed similar results, where one dish was taken out of of the student's lunch and dinner meals.

All done without principals' approvals

This goes against the food providers' contracts, which states they must announce a change in the menu at least 24 hours beforehand.

"The audit found contractors at both schools had reduced one dish, and changed the menu and ingredients specified without getting permission from the school principal.

"According to the contractors, the change is due to the ingredients not being available on that day," the report says.

The AG report also blamed the schools for not ensuring that the contractors stick to their terms of contract.

This includes not fining the contractors for using frozen fish and beef, instead of fresh items.

Besides the change in menus, the audit is also dissatisfied with its finding that six of the 16 food workers at both schools have not taken typhoid shots, thereby exposing the students to the disease.

The schools' kitchens were also unclean and were infested with cockroaches, while the Maahad Johor school's freezer was caked with fish blood that had not been cleaned.