A parent who contacted FMT said the school had outsourced the installation and maintenance of the lockers to a private company. The contact number of the private company has been given to parents.

“It is not compulsory, but parents who are interested have been told to contact the school authorities,” he said. “Once we register, we make the payment directly to the company. It does not go through the school.”

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The message to the parents says the fee from April to December will be RM110 with an additional RM10 as a refundable deposit for the keys. The lockers are offered only to pupils from Primary 2 to Primary 6.

Parents have been given an online link to register and make the payment.

“I am wondering why they are outsourcing something which the government has announced it will do for free,” the parent who spoke to FMT said. “I wonder if there is some cronyism here.”

He said he feared the emergence of a class system separating those who could afford the fee and those who could not.

NUTP secretary-general Wang Heng Suan said he was shocked that the school was resorting to this when the government had announced a budget of RM37.3 million for lockers in primary schools.

“Why is the school putting pressure on parents by doing this? It may be optional, but parents will face pressure to ensure their children are not left out,” he told FMT.

He said it was better for the ministry to build the lockers, preferably attached to desks, because these would then belong to the government.

“Obviously, by outsourcing it, the private company will own the lockers forever and it will make huge profits.”

Wang also said having lockers would reduce the weight of school bags by only 30%, the estimated portion taken up by books.

“The rest of the weight is from water bottles, clothes like track bottoms and T-shirts and even toys,” he said. “The parents should help by supervising their children in packing their bags.”

FMT has contacted the school for comments and is awaiting its response.