The education ministry has also prepared the full list of 834 schools that will get their share from the allocation.

“The contribution to each school will be paid out via cheque as soon as the money reaches the ministry,” Deputy Education Minister Chong Sin Woon said yesterday at an event to present financial aid to 150 pupils from 10 Chinese primary schools in Kuala Lumpur.

The RM50 million allocation, which works out to an average of RM60,000 per school, is meant for maintenance work.

According to the daily, the issue of the delay in disbursement of the allocation had raised some concern last month but it was quickly resolved after Prime Minister Najib Razak gave his assurance the matter would be looked into as soon as possible.

Education Minister Mahdzir Khalid was later reported to have said that there was a “slight shortage” in the allocation for the schools this year.

Meanwhile, Chong has asked that the private sector boost efforts to help poor pupils in urban areas, as they face a different set of problems from those in rural areas.

“The poverty line set by the government cannot be used to compare the situation of the urban poor with those in rural areas as their expenses vary greatly,” Chong was quoted as saying by The Star.