Selangor set to gazette land for Seaport school
Ram AnandPublished: Jan 7, 2014 12:27 PM | Updated: Jan 7, 2014 5:00 PM
The Selangor government would have “no problem” in gazetting the land owned by its state arm PKNS for the Seaport Tamil school’s original site in Petaling Jaya.
UPDATED 4.58PM
Its representative claims the state had agreed in principle.
The Selangor government would have “no problem” in gazetting the land owned by its state arm PKNS for the Seaport Tamil school’s original site in Petaling Jaya.
This will boost the battle by some 20 parents to preserve the school, which the Education Ministry has relocated to Kampung Lindungan.
State secretariat representative, NM Rajan, who was at the school this morning, said the state has agreed in principle to the exercise and would need to meet the school board and parents to settle the matter in the shortest possible time.
“I will try to arrange for a meeting with Halimah Ali, state exco member for education,” he told Malaysiakini after a meeting between the school, parents and the Selangor Education Department.
Rajan is also a special officer to Halimah.
However, the state Education Department was unable to provide a concrete solution to the problem, and insisted that the school will remain closed until parents can settle the issue of ownership of the land.
Parents later said that they would continue placing their children in the “under the tree classroom” adjacent to the school. They have even built a tent using their own money to ensure that the children are comfortable.
Education Department officials said that they would not be returning to monitor the students at the school any more after making a final plea for parents to send their children to the newly-opened Seaport Tamil school.
Parents are objecting to the new school as they feel it is located too far away. They also want to preserve the 80-year-old school building.
Ministry: Teachers won't be provided
After a protracted meeting, officials, led by state Education Department director Mahmud Karim himself, also said they would not be able to provide teachers for the students, despite requests by parents.
“All I can say is, please send your children to the new school, at least on a temporary basis, and I leave it to parents to fight for this school ithrough the right channels," he said.
"Otherwise, we don’t have any powers because this is not government land."
The land on which the school sits belongs to Selangor State Development Corporation (PKNS), as it was previously gazetted as a temporary school land.
Mahmud claimed that the Education Ministry's decision to relocate the school to a new place in such short notice was because it wanted to "upgrade" the school.
"This is not government land, so we can't upgrade. The new school, we can make upgrades," he told the parents.
Many parents sounded frustrated with the outcome of their meeting the education department officials, with Mahmud implying he had very little power to give the parents what they are demanding.
This will boost the battle by some 20 parents to preserve the school, which the Education Ministry has relocated to Kampung Lindungan.
State secretariat representative, NM Rajan, who was at the school this morning, said the state has agreed in principle to the exercise and would need to meet the school board and parents to settle the matter in the shortest possible time.
“I will try to arrange for a meeting with Halimah Ali, state exco member for education,” he told Malaysiakini after a meeting between the school, parents and the Selangor Education Department.
Rajan is also a special officer to Halimah.
However, the state Education Department was unable to provide a concrete solution to the problem, and insisted that the school will remain closed until parents can settle the issue of ownership of the land.Parents later said that they would continue placing their children in the “under the tree classroom” adjacent to the school. They have even built a tent using their own money to ensure that the children are comfortable.
Education Department officials said that they would not be returning to monitor the students at the school any more after making a final plea for parents to send their children to the newly-opened Seaport Tamil school.
Parents are objecting to the new school as they feel it is located too far away. They also want to preserve the 80-year-old school building.
Ministry: Teachers won't be provided
After a protracted meeting, officials, led by state Education Department director Mahmud Karim himself, also said they would not be able to provide teachers for the students, despite requests by parents.
“All I can say is, please send your children to the new school, at least on a temporary basis, and I leave it to parents to fight for this school ithrough the right channels," he said."Otherwise, we don’t have any powers because this is not government land."
The land on which the school sits belongs to Selangor State Development Corporation (PKNS), as it was previously gazetted as a temporary school land.
Mahmud claimed that the Education Ministry's decision to relocate the school to a new place in such short notice was because it wanted to "upgrade" the school.
"This is not government land, so we can't upgrade. The new school, we can make upgrades," he told the parents.
Many parents sounded frustrated with the outcome of their meeting the education department officials, with Mahmud implying he had very little power to give the parents what they are demanding.
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