Another 24 schools, 14 primary schools and 10 secondary schools, have been awarded the High Performance School (HPS) status, bringing the total number of HPS in the country to 115, said Second Education Minister Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh.

"In this regard, the ministry's target to create 10 High Performance Schools each year under the Government Transformation Programme 2.0 has been reached and has also exceeded the target," he said at the presentation of certificates of recognition to the High Performance Schools, here, today.

The recognition allows each school to receive a special allocation totalling RM700,000 for the first year, RM500,000 for the second year and RM300,000 for the third year.

Idris said for the first time, a Tamil school, SJK (T) Ladang Rem in Kota Tinggi, Johor, had made the list.

The other schools selected are Sekolah Kebangsaan (SK) Tengku Mariam and Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan (SMK) Dato Penggawa Barat in Johor, Sekolah Menengah (SM) Sains Kubang Pasu in Kedah, SM Sains Machang Kelantan, SK Convent Pahang, Sekolah Berasrama Penuh (SBP) Integrasi Jempol Negeri Sembilan and SK Putrajaya Presint 11 (1), Putrajaya.

SK Convent of The Infant Jesus 1 (M) and Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Agama (SMKA) Sharifah Rodziah in Melaka, SK Sultan Idris II, SK Marian Convent, SM Sains Raja Tun Azlan Shah and SBP Integrasi Gopeng in Perak, and SK Convent Green Lane, Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan Cina (SJKC) Han Chiang and SMKA Al-Irshad in Penang.

SK Taman Megah, SK Bukit Jelutong, SK Sri Petaling, Sekolah Menengah Agama (SMA) Persekutuan Kajang and SBP Integrasi Rawang in Selangor, and SK Convent Bukit Nanas (1) and SJKC Kuen Cheng 2 in Kuala Lumpur.

According to Idris, the ministry was satisfied with the performance and achievements of 91 HPS earlier which were recognised in 2010, therefore the government had agreed to extend the implementation of the HPS programme until 2015.

He said that in an effort to bridge the gap between schools, HPS should be an aspiration to other schools to achieve performance excellence.