Chong Chieng Jen (PH-Stampin) said the average cost of upgrading a school was between RM6 million and RM8 million, including for schools with 100 to 200 students each.

“Is that a reasonable cost as it is just upgrading work and not building a new school? Why is the cost so high?” he asked in the Dewan Rakyat.

Chong asked if the ministry would ensure contractors were not profiteering from such projects.

He posed this additional question after deputy education minister Mohamad Alamin said the ministry had approved 186 projects to upgrade and build schools at the cost of RM1.57 billion since 2019.

Seventy-five projects were approved at a cost of RM827.1 million in 2019. As at Sept 22, 29 projects had been completed, 41 were ongoing and five had yet to be built.

As for 2020, 52 projects costing RM350 million had been approved, including six that are ongoing.

Mohamad said 4,027 students would benefit from the upgrading of 29 schools.

He said his ministry had been upgrading schools based on reports and the justification given by government agencies, including the works ministry.