DAP has called on Deputy Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak to explain what the government will do to ensure fair and equal treatment in the building of new primary schools, whether national or Chinese, to cope with rising enrolment.

National chairperson Lim Kit Siang said this in response to news reports yesterday, which he alleged have given the impression that the deputy premier is the "new champion" of Chinese primary schools.

Najib was reported to have said that 'micro' Chinese primary schools, including those with fewer than 10 pupils, will not be closed.

At a party forum in Kuala Lumpur last night, Lim noted that the existence of such Chinese primary schools is only one of many protracted problems. A copy of his speech was faxed to malaysiakini today,

"At the other end of the spectrum is the problem of serious over-crowding of pupils in Chinese primary schools and classrooms," Lim said.

Data on schools

He cited statistics obtained from the United School Teachers Association of Malaysia (Jiao Zong) in 2003.

This revealed that there are 81 Chinese primary schools with fewer than 30 pupils nationwide, 22 with fewer than 10 pupils, 31 with 11-20 pupils and 28 with 21-30 pupils.

Of the 1,287 Chinese primary schools in the country, 501 have fewer than 150 pupils according to the statistics.

Citing an example of over-crowding, Lim claimed that, this year, (an average of) 53 pupils are being squeezed into each class in Chinese primary schools in Ipoh.

In Kuala Lumpur last year, the average pupil-per-class ratio in Chinese primary schools was 45, compared to 30 in national primary schools and 26 in Tamil primary schools, he said.

'Match demand'

"In the three years after the 1999 general election, the unfair and inequitable construction of Chinese primary schools - compared to national primary schools - continued unabated," Lim said.

Illustrating the difference, Lim said enrolment in national primary schools from 2000-2003 increased by 52,910 pupils (from 2,193,582 to 3,246,492). This saw an increase of 171 new schools - or an average of one for every 308 pupils.

The enrolment in Chinese primary schools over the same period increased by 9,468 pupils (from 622,712 to 632,180), but only one new school was built.

Lim argued that a total of 31 schools should have been built if the Education Ministry has a "fair and even-handed" policy where primary schools are built based purely on demand.

"As a former education minister from 1995-1999, Najib should understand the problems faced by Chinese primary schools," he said.

"In particular, there is unfairness and injustice resulting from the failure to match increased enrolment with new Chinese primary schools."

Statistics from the 10-Year Education Department Blueprint 2001-2010 - prepared during Najib's tenure - show that the number of Chinese primary schools declined from 1,288 to 1,284.

And this, added Lim, was despite the fact that the enrolment registered the biggest increase of 4.7 percent or 28,192 pupils. (See chart)

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