THE Education Ministry (MOE) must explain what happened to the lockers it promised to install in schools to address the issue of heavy school bags, said former deputy education minister Teo Nie Ching.

She said it has been two months since the announcement, and some schools have resorted to resolving the issue themselves.

The Kulai MP cited a media report on one school in Kuala Lumpur, which rents out lockers to its students for RM120 for eight months. The school outsources locker installation and maintenance to a private company.

“Although this project is carried out with the consent of the school’s parent and teacher association, the elephant in the room is: where are the MOE-promised lockers?” she asked in a statement today.

“This situation clearly illustrates how MOE has failed miserably to solve the issue of heavy school bags and installation of the lockers.”

On March 6, the ministry announced that it will provide lockers in primary schools to address the issue of heavy school bags.

Its total estimated allocation is RM37.3 million this year, involving 10,662 classes with 323,186 students.

Phase 1 of the locker initiative will involve Years 1, 2, and 3 pupils in double-session schools this year, while Phase 2 will involve Years 4, 5 and 6 pupils in double-session schools next year.

Teo said she has asked the ministry for an implementation timeline in Parliament, but Deputy Education Minister Mah Hang Soon could not provide any clarity.

“All he said was more study needed to be done before any concrete timeline could be given.

“It is strange that the study was not conducted before the ministry announced the initiative on March 6.” – May 20, 2022.