PUTRAJAYA, Feb 2 (Bernama) -- Schools in flood-prone areas will be built according to a standard design to prevent them from being seriously damaged during floods.

The design will be introduced by the Education Ministry soon.

Education Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein said the new design would be submitted to the Economic Planning Unit (EPU) in the Prime Minister's Department for scrutiny.

Among the new features in the standard plan will be a higher ground level, building on stilts with the ground level left open, more bath rooms, bigger water tanks and water pipes and additional kitchens.

"I believe the new approach will reduce security risks and damage to furnitures and equipments due to floods and make the schools more suitable as evacuation centres," he said in a statement Friday.

He said students of schools which were under water for more than two months during the recent flood, would be placed at other schools nearby which would be turned into two-session schools if necessary.

The government would provide transport facilities to the schools until the original ones had fully recovered and were operational again, he said, adding that the transport costs would be borne by the government.

He said future schools would be built on safer ground and no schools would be constructed on swampy land, hillslopes and other risky areas.