Grant all 523 Tamil schools land, make them permanent and part of the Malaysian culture, history and heritage. Why temporary and piecemeal solutions?

No.6, Jalan Abdullah, Off Jalan Bangsar, 59000 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Tel: 03-2282 5241 Fax: 03-2282 5245

Website: www.humanrightspartymalaysia.com Email: info@humanrightspartymalaysia.com

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In Reply :

Date : 17^th September 2010

Y.B Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin Minister of Education Malaysia,

Pejabat Menteri Pelajaran, Aras 10, Block E8,

Complex Kerajaan Parcal E, Fax : 03-8889 5846

62604 Putrajaya. E-Mail: khairulam@moe.gov.my

YAB Tan Sri Dato` Seri Abd Khalid Bin Ibrahim

Menteri Besar Selangor Pejabat Menteri Besar Selangor

Tingkat 21,
Bangunan Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah, Fax: 03-55190032
40503 Shah Alam . E-Mail: khalid@selangor.gov.my

YAB Lim Guan Eng Chief Miniter of Penang,

Pejabat Ketua Menteri Pulau Pinang, Fax : 04-7957 5718

Tingkat 28, KOMTAR 10503, Pulau Pinang. E-Mail : limguaneng@penang.gov.my

YAB Dato Seri Haji Azizan Bin Abdul Razak Menteri Besar Kedah

Aras 3, Wisma Darul Aman, 05503 Alor Setar, Fax : 04 – 7336192

Kedah Darul Aman Email: ustazizan@kedah.gov.my

Re: Grant all 523 Tamil schools land, make them permanent and part of the Malaysian culture, history and heritage. Why temporary and piecemeal solutions?

We refer to the above matter and are astonished to read of the two newsreports in one day of the Sabak Bernam Tamil school being rebuild after 40 years (MO 10/9/10 at page 24) and the mere land allocation for the Harvard Tamil school in Gurun after 20 years of struggle (MN 10/9/10 at page 18).

Why do Tamil schools have to individually struggle to be rebuilt from their cowshed like structures and to be in line with the national mainstream development of Malaysia Malay, Chinese, Orang Asli, Kadazan or Iban schools are built as of right. Why do the poor Indians in Malaysia have to struggle for their children’s basic primary school education? And why should the poor Indian parents be make to fork out money to build their children’s Tamil schools?

Article 12 of the Federal Constitution provides that there shall be no discrimination in providing education out of the funds of a Public Authority.

Section 28 of the United Nations (U.N) Convention on the Rights of the Child provides for compulsory and free primary school education for all children.

In fact it is an offence according to the Education Act not to send children to primary school and these parents can be jailed for up to six (6) months for not doing so.

These 110,000 students attend 523 Tamil schools. 371 of these primary schools are denied full government financial assistance even after 52 years of Independence. 289 of these are located in the plantations.

But why is the UMNO/BN federal government refusing to make all these 523 Tamil schools in Malaysia fully government financially aided schools? And the PKR, DAP and PAS state governments still refusing to grant land to all 98, 58 and 28 Tamil schools in Selangor, Kedah and Penang respectively.

70% (370) of 523 Tamil schools are not fully government aided. (NST 11/6/08 at page 24).

250 Tamil schools on estate land: Education Minister Hishamuddin (UM 25/7/08 pg 6).

About 1,400 (20%) (Tamil Nesan 16/6/08 pg 15) of the 7,800 Tamil school teachers are temporary and untrained teachers. (NST 30/6/08 pg 24) to teach the 150,000 tamil school pupils. (TN 16/6/08 pg 15).

Why can’t all these 523 Tamil schools all be granted government land all in one go and not in bits and pieces of a political “wayang kulit” Tamil school land here and there.

With land being granted to all these 523 Tamil schools all in one go these Tamil schools will become permanent structures in One Malaysia. It would follow that their history and heritage especially in recognition of the Indian plantation workers who helped build the foundation of what Malaysia has developed to become today. Why not? After all we are supposed to be One Malaysia?

Granting land to all these 523 Tamil schools will also ensure that they do not fall prey to supposed “development” and being pushed about here and there.

For example the Midlands Tamil school in Selangor has been told to move out for the fourth time now. The Lukut Tamil school in Port Dickson is the world’s only school upstairs a shophouse in Port Dickson is not condusive as young children need to play. The Assad Tamil school is the world’s only basement primary school and the Ladang Jeram Tamil school is the world’s only Tamil school fully housed in claustrophobic congested shipping containers. The Kulai Besar Tamil school having the world’s only classrooms in wedding tents and shipping cabins and the Rini Tamil school Johor being denied their 6.1 hectre land which is now being occupied by illegal immigrants. SRJK (T) Mukim Pundut not allowed to run their own kindergarten in a vacant building meant for the Chinese section of a vision school. (T.N 3/7/08). The Ladang Sungai Para Tamil school kindergarten and scores of others being in the world’s only cowshed like structure.

The Cheras Tamil school with 355 children is in a mere 0.2 hectre of land space and is being the world’s most cramped up primary school. The Tepi Sungai Tamil school having been the world’s only Tamil school housed in a Public Works Department storeroom and the list goes on and on.

This does not happen to any Malay, Chinese, Orang asli, Kadazan or Iban schools! Why does this only have to happen to Tamil schools in One Malay-sia?

We hereby call upon the UMNO/BN federal government and the PKR, DAP and PAS state governments to with allocate land to all these 523 Tamil schools immediately, make them all fully government aided schools, and make them permanent schools. Why should these 523 Tamil schools still be temporary structures after 53 years of Independence?

And to be made on par with any Malay, Chinese, Orang Asli, Iban and Kadazan schools which is the very basic necessity in any country except in UMNO/BN’s One Malay-sia and PKR, DAP and PAS’ multi-racial but bi-Malaysia.

These 523 Tamil schools are a part of One Malaysia’s culture, tradition, heritage and history. So why exclude and segregate them?

Thank You.

Yours Faithfully,

_________________

P.Uthayakumar

Secretary General (pro tem)