She said low-enrolment schools should look for interesting plans or programmes to help increase their numbers. Opening up pre-school classes was one way, she said in Sarikei, Sarawak, after a visit to the Chinese primary school in Bulat.
“Having many pupils enrolled in pre-school can guarantee higher enrolment in Year One. We need to have many programmes and plans in schools so that parents or guardians will be interested in sending their children,” Lim told reporters.
Lim said if primary schools opened pre-schooling classes for children between the ages of four and five, the education ministry was required under the Education Act to send a teacher or an assistant.
“As long as the schools can accommodate students in the classrooms, they can start pre-school classes. So as long as there are students who register, it is the ministry’s duty to send a pre-school teacher or an assistant to the schools that will start the pre-school class,” she said.
She hoped all schools and principals would take their responsibility seriously about increasing enrolment in their schools. It was up to the schools to decide for themselves on the kind of ‘packages’ to attract students.
However, if they could not overcome the problem of low enrolment, they should consider merging with nearby schools or relocating the school to areas with a larger population.
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