The Education Ministry has notified the schools which will be used as voting centres for the upcoming general election, according to a Chinese daily today.

Nanyang Siang Pau,

which claimed that the elections could be held in March or April, said the notifications were sent by the respective state education departments on Jan 2.

The schools were also told to prepare two computers to be used on polling day. However, the report did not specify the number of schools involved.

Teachers in these schools have also been instructed not to take leave during this period and if the polls fall over the weekend, a special holiday will be given.

Contacted later, Headmasters Association president Kang Siew Khoon claimed to be in the dark over the matter while ministry officials declined to comment.

Training ongoing

Meanwhile, the daily said officials from several municipal councils have already started discussing the issue with the schools involved.

The report also claimed that the Election Commission (EC) had requested several schools in Petaling Jaya late last year to allow their teachers to be election officers.

The daily said EC has already started training and debriefing its 100,000-strong election team. The first session was conducted in Sabah last week and will be followed by Sarawak and West Malaysia respectively.

Yesterday, the commission reportedly briefed 210 electoral officers and their assistants at a hotel in Shah Alam.

Earlier today, the ruling Barisan Nasional component parties met to finalise their preparation for the polls, which Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said could be called any time.