Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo walk for a tree planting ceremony during their meeting at the presidential palace in Bogor, West Java 29 June 2018. — Reuters pic

PETALING JAYA, June 29 — Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said today the Malaysian government will look into building schools for Indonesian children whose parents have been living in Malaysia legally in Sabah and Sarawak.

“We realise there are quite a number of Indonesian citizens living in Malaysia who have entered the country through legal and non-legal means.

“As for some of those that have entered legally, they did not come alone but with their families and children.

“We realise that there are no schools for these children seeking to obtain a proper education even though there are such schools in the Peninsular which are still insufficient,” he said at the joint press conference with Jokowi, as the Indonesian President is fondly called, in conjunction with his official visit to Indonesia.

Dr Mahathir said the government will improve the current situation to allow more Indonesian children to enrol themselves in such schools in the future.

During the joint press conference, Indonesian President Joko Widodo also said the proposal to build schools for Indonesian children living in Malaysia was brought up during the meeting with Dr Mahathir.

Among the Indonesian international schools located in Malaysia is Sekolah Indonesia Kuala Lumpur located in Lorong Tun Ismail in the city centre.