A total of 402 schools throughout the country have been identified by the Education Ministry as having issues with discipline and drugs.

The list divided the schools into two categories: Category 1 for disciplinary issues and Category 3 for both disciplinary and drug issues, The New Straits Times reported today.

Selangor had the highest number of schools on the list, with 76. Nine of the schools were identified as having issues with drugs as well.

The state with the second highest number of the schools on the list was Johor, with 63, and with only one school in Category 3.

Negeri Sembilan was third with 40 schools, five classified under Category 3 while Penang and Pahang both came in fourth with 37 schools on the list each.

Meanwhile, Kuala Lumpur had 22 schools on the list, though all of them were listed as having drug issues.

Sabah was the only state or federal territory not on the list.

NST said it received the list from sources, and the list was later verified by officials close to the committee involved in its preparation.

The officials reportedly said that the list was only supposed to be for the ministry and police’s internal use by their joint task force to tackle problems at these hotspot schools.

The sources told NST that the list was presented by the ministry during a a meeting of the committee on students disciplinary problems in June.

The meeting was also attended by representatives from the police, parent-teacher’s associations and NGOs.

Education Minister Mahdzir Khalid had reportedly said that his ministry would apply the National Blue Ocean Strategy approach to deal with these hotspot schools.

“The ministry will delegate power to the (education) directors to take further action, as well as set up a similar committee at the state-level,” he had said.