Fadhlina maintained it was untrue that Putrajaya allocated more funds to national-type schools (SJK) rather than national schools.

“Each school has its own needs and priorities. Allocation for both maintenance and development should be needs-based,” she said.

“If SJKCs (Chinese primary schools) require (a certain amount), we will look into it. The same applies to national schools or SJKTs (Tamil primary schools),” she was quoted as saying.

She said the ministry would be fair to all schools, acknowledging that government funds were crucial to ensuring students had the best access to education possible.

Last month, PAS deputy president Tuan Ibrahim Tuan claimed that Chinese schools had better facilities due to the government allocating more funds to national-type schools rather than national schools.

He called for all funds donated to schools, regardless of source, to be distributed through the ministry to ensure fairness. His call came amid a brouhaha over the involvement of breweries in raising funds for Chinese vernacular schools.

In the 2022 budget, RM1 billion was allocated for the maintenance and repair of schools, of which RM120 million was allocated to Chinese and Tamil vernacular schools.