Sarawak, Perak urged to help Chinese independent schools financially
Posted on July 19, 2011, Tuesday
KUCHING: Of the 58 Chinese independent schools in the country, only those in Sarawak, Perak and Kuala Lumpur have yet to receive annual allocations from their respective state governments.
United Chinese School Committees’ Association of Malaysia (Dong Zong) chairman Dr Yap Sin Tien said the state governments of Selangor, Penang, Melaka, Sabah, Negeri Sembilan, Johor, Kedah and Kelantan had been granting allocations to Chinese independent schools annually since the 12th general election in March, 2008.
“Each school in those eight states receives at least RM20,000 yearly, but the state governments of Sarawak and Perak opted for land alienation instead of annual grants,” he was quoted as saying in Chinese dailies during a recent briefing and dialogue session held in Kajang, Selangor.
Dong Zong’s website stated that the Selangor state government granted RM500,000 each to four Chinese independent schools in the state annually since 2008, followed by Penang (RM300,000 each to three schools), Melaka (RM250,000 to one), Sabah (RM230,000 each to nine), Negeri Sembilan (vary from RM100,000 to RM270,000 each to two), Johor (RM100,000 each to eight), Kedah (RM60,000 each to three) and Kelantan (RM20,000 to one).
The website also pointed out that the Sarawak state government had announced its plan to alienate 2,000 hectares (approximately 5,000 acres) of land for 14 Chinese independent schools. Perak is also on a similar track, where nine Chinese independent schools were granted 1,000 hectares (approximately 2,500 acres) of land without annual funds.
In view of the annual grants from the eight state governments, Dr Yap called on the state governments in Sarawak and Perak to follow suit.
“Even Melaka and Kelantan state governments have allocations for Chinese independent schools. Hence, the state governments of Sarawak and Perak should listen to the request of their Chinese community to grant annual funds,” he said.
He also urged the boards of management in Sarawak and Perak to be more aggressive in securing annual allocations from their respective state governments.
On December 17 last year, Chief Minister Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud agreed to alienate 2,000 hectares of land for Chinese independent schools in the state.
Taib also announced that these schools would be exempted from having to pay land lease renewal premium during a dialogue with the Chinese community here.
The 2,000 hectares of land was meant to reduce the financial burden of Chinese independent schools.
Taib told reporters he acknowledged that Chinese independent schools “are short of money” and had to rely heavily on their respective boards of management.
He added that he would liaise with the federal government to come up with more assistance, separately from that provided by the state government for these schools.
