Instead, its chairman Abdul Karim Mustafa said, the Students’ Desks Fund initiative, which went viral on Twitter, was a proactive measure taken by the PTA to help the school administrators.

“We were faced with three options. First, to take proactive steps as a PTA. Second, we could wait for allocations from the (education) ministry, or third, we could stay silent or tweet by polemicising this issue,” he told FMT.

“Before school starts, we normally meet with school administrators and the district education office (PPD) to check on their needs, and offer our assistance.

“That is the usual practice by PTAs. The shortage of desks and chairs will always be an issue. Some of them are old and in poor condition and, therefore, we need to replace them with more comfortable furniture, especially for Primary 1 pupils who have just started their first day of school.”

He dismissed tweets claiming that the authorities responsible did not allocate any funds for the furniture, forcing the PTA to start the fund.

“The claim that the allocation is insufficient is incorrect, as PPD Sepang has given their commitment to add 152 units in the near future. But we need to understand there are government procedures, and these will take time.

“So, in the meantime, we are taking other proactive measures to help the school. We actually contributed part of it – 50 units were needed due to the sudden increase in students at SK Cyberjaya,” he said.

There was an uproar on Twitter when the PTA started the fund, with netizens sharing a wide range of reactions.

Every year, SK Cyberjaya accepts an additional intake of 400 to 500 Primary 1 pupils. It currently has 25 classrooms with a total of 2,400 students, including in both the morning and evening sessions.

“Authorities in Cyberjaya or politicians, please come to SK Cyberjaya and see for yourself. The school needs a lot of help,” Karim said.