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PETALING JAYA: While Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin has said that the welfare of the Indian community is important, there is a severe 42% drop in allocations for Tamil schools, Klang MP Charles Santiago (pix) said.
He reveals how the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government cares about indigenous people, he added in a statement issued today.
“The projected allocation for Tamil schools is only RM 29 million compared to RM 50 million in previous years,” Santiago said.
“This is disappointing to say the least. It is a known fact that previous allocations were already insufficient, resulting in poor maintenance and lack of facilities in Tamil schools.
The deputy noted that Tamil schools have inadequate computers, broken chairs and tables, leaky ceilings, broken toilets and other maintenance problems.
“Most of the Tamil schools in Malaysia were built in the 1970s and 1980s. Almost 70% of the 527 Tamil schools are located in rural areas and are in dire need of improvement and maintenance,” he said.
“Data from the Malaysia Indian Blueprint (MIB) shows that 13% of Indian students drop out of primary school, also due to the poor conditions of these schools.
“In addition to this, the Ministry of Education has not taken into account the impact of inflation and rising costs.”
Santiago said the ministry did not conduct a proper study or prepare a report on the state of Tamil schools in Malaysia, available facilities, building security, maintenance schedule and other relevant data before cutting allocations.
“Education is the only key to eradicating poverty among B40 Indian families, whose children make up a large part of the student population in Tamil schools,” he said.
“Therefore, the PN government should increase the allocation for Tamil schools from RM 50 million to RM 60 million, rather than looking for excuses to reduce it.
“And what was that again: Muhyiddin is the leader of all Malaysians? Well then he certainly has to walk like he talks. “
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