26 per cent of new pupils in SJKC next year Bumiputeras

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Jonathan Chai

KUCHING: Twenty-six per cent of the 4,239 new pupils who have registered at aided Chinese primary schools (SJKC) in Kuching, Samarahan and Serian divisions next year are Bumiputeras.

President of the Federation of Boards of Management for SJKC of Kuching, Samarahan and Serian Divisions Jonathan Chai, who disclosed this yesterday, said the figure was as of Oct 2 and is expected to rise with time.

The federation also expects some more registrations before the new school term begins in 2019, he said when contacted by The Borneo Post’s sister paper See Hua Daily News here.

The total registration of 4,239 as of Oct 2 marks an increase of 187 pupils from the previous year.

Chai pointed out that children pursuing Primary 1 next year were born in the Year of the Dragon, which could be one of the reasons the enrolment went up by nearly 200.

“The figure is encouraging and of the total 4,239 new pupils, 1,126 or 26 per cent are Bumiputeras. We see a number of international schools in the city while quite many Chinese families do not have many children.

“These are among the reasons we do not record a spiked increase in the total number of registered new pupils,” he noted.

Chai was delighted that some Bumiputera parents had decided to continue sending their children to SJKC for education.

He believed that this phenomenon showed that Bumiputera parents had a certain level of confidence in Chinese education.

Notably, 1,153 of the total 4,052 new pupils enrolled for SJKC this year are Bumiputeras.