Twenty-four of the 35 schools in Permatang Pauh will be turned into polling centres for the by-election for the Permatang Pauh Parliamentary constituency on May 7.

Seberang Perai Tengah District Education Officer, Fauzi Omar said eight of the schools were secondary schools while the rest were primary schools and national type schools.

He said that of this number, eight schools each would be in the state constituencies of Seberang Jaya, Permatang Pasir and Penanti.

"Students of the affected schools will be given a holiday on the polling day and a replacement schooling day need not be on the Saturday of the same week...it will be up to the current needs of the school management," he said when contacted by Bernama, here today.

The by-election for the Permatang Pauh is being held after the incumbent Member of Parliament, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim lost his eligibility as an elected representative when the Pardons Board rejected the petition for a royal pardon sought by Anwar through his family members.

Anwar is serving a five-year jail term after being convicted for sodomising her former personal assistant Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan.

The Election Commission fixed May 7 for polling day for the Permatang Pauh by-election while nomination day will be April 25 and early voting on May 3.