The Education Ministry has permitted 17 more Chinese schools to relocate to areas with a bigger population to increase their enrolment as they only had fewer than 10 pupils per school in their old location.

Bernama reported that Deputy Education Minister Hon Choon Kim told reporters in the Parliament lobby today that in 1999, 40 Chinese schools were allowed to move from their original areas for similar reasons.

Chinese primary 'micro' schools has been in the news in recent months because of concerns raised that they would be closed.

In January this year, Hon asked the board of governors of national type Chinese schools with fewer than 10 pupils to submit their relocation or merger proposals to his ministry.

He was also quoted as saying then that 13 of 15 national type Chinese schools with fewer than 10 pupils had agreed to be relocated or merged with other schools.

Ratio maintained

Earlier, replying to Ling Ban San @ Teng Boon Soon (BN-Tebrau) during question time in the House, the deputy minister said the number of pupils per class as set by the Education Ministry was 30 per class or a maximum of 35 per class.

This ratio had been maintained in most schools except those in bigger towns such as Johor Bahru, Petaling Jaya and Kuala Lumpur.

The Parliamentary Secretary to the Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives Ministry Samsu Baharum Abdul Rahman said the government would build another Mara Junior Science College (MRSM) in Sabah, this time in Tawau.

Kota Kinabalu already had an MRSM, he told Raime Unggi (BN-Tenom).