Education Deputy Minister P Kamalanathan said the move would be carried out in stages, in light of challenges faced by the government, particularly securing proper sites and construction costs.

“Twenty-two of the schools are Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan Tamil (SJKT), while the rest are SJK Cina and Sekolah Kebangsaan (SK).”

He told reporters this after attending the opening of a new building and ground-breaking for the community hall for SJKT Sungai Renggam here today by MIC president Dr S Subramaniam.

Meanwhile, Subramaniam, who is also health minister, said the government had already relocated certain Tamil schools with fewer than 10 pupils in Johor and Perak to newly-built schools in areas with high population density.

On the proposed community hall for SJKT Sungai Renggam, he said the government had approved RM1 million for its construction.

He said the government had also been allocated RM400,000 to build two preschool classrooms for the school, in line with the government’s objective to provide early education to Indian children before they enter Primary One.