SCHOOLS BUILT SINCE 1959 (Particulars)

Mr Ho Kah Leong asked the Minister for Education (a) how many schools have been built since 1959; (b) are all those schools provided with adequate sports grounds; and (c) in how many of those schools have the ground floors cracked; what are the reasons for the cracks; and has any remedial action been taken.

The Minister for Education (Mr Ong Pang Boon): Mr Speaker, Sir, since 1959 the Government has built 55 primary and 56 secondary schools, and one junior college. All Government schools are provided with playgrounds, but the size of these playgrounds varies, depending on the availability of land. In the past years it has become increasingly difficult to secure school sites in or near to the heart of the city big enough to provide adequate playing fields. Where such grounds are not quite adequate, the schools concerned are encouraged to share other school playing fields in the neighbourhood or to use public open spaces and sporting amenities belonging to community centres. On the whole, the provision of grounds for sports and games in schools is quite adequate.

Over the past three or four years, several cracks have developed in some parts of the ground floors of five schools as a result of the sinking floors. However, these occurred only in schools built on low-lying sites that had been filled. Remedial action has been taken by the Public Works Department to reinforce the concrete ground floors in these five schools.