The final draft of the Action Plan for the Future of Tamil Schools in Malaysia will be tabled at a national convention this Friday, to obtain input and feedback from the stakeholders.

The coordinator of the plan, Prof Dr NS Rajendran said the comprehensive blueprint for a 10-year period would be discussed and endorsed by the participants before being implemented.

“After gathering the input from the participants at the convention, we will hand the final report on the development plan to Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak,” he told Bernama in an exclusive interview at his office in Kuala Lumpur recently.

The eight-member panel on the development plan was established under the Prime Minister’s Department in May 2012, and the plan involving the 523 Tamil schools nationwide was proposed by Najib himself.

Rajendran said the panel had met with all the 523 Tamil school heads in the country and obtained their feedback at a dialogue and brainstorming session.

He said the panel also conducted workshops, meetings at town halls and seminars with people associated with Tamil schools in the country, to collect data and other input in order to draw up a permanent, sustainable roadmap.

“The priority issues include the relocation of under-enrolled schools, buildings and infrastructure, quality of teaching and learning, pupils’ achievements, quality of co-curricular activities, trust fund (finance) and parent-community participation.”

Rajendran hoped the strategic plan for the future of Tamil schools (2014-2025) would eventually solve all problems once the blueprint was approved by the government and put into immediate action.

He said the preliminary report on the action plan found that national-type Tamil schools (SJKT) had recorded significant academic achievements in the last five years, and had halved the difference between them and the national schools and national-type Chinese schools.

“There has also been a significant increase in the academic qualifications of SJKT teachers, with at least 45 percent of them now possessing the minimum qualification of a bachelor’s degree,” he said.

The report was presented to the prime minister on Nov 6 last year and the panel was told to hold a national convention for the final feedback and input, he said.

However, Rajendran underlined a serious lack of preschool education opportunities at Tamil-type national schools in the country - at about 40 percent, which was far behind the national average of 77 percent.

“Through this action plan, we will do more to achieve the national target of 100 percent preschool educational opportunities for kids by 2020.

Shortage of specialised teachers

“There is also a shortage of specialised teachers to teach Bahasa Malaysia and English, as well as an urgent need to improve the quality of instruction for these two subjects and the Tamil language,” he said.

Rajendran also said that 60 percent of the Tamil schools needed to form school boards, to tackle achievement gaps and school-related issues such as the need for computer labs, living skill labs and playing fields to ensure the wholesome development of students.

The preliminary report also touched on resolving the issue of conversion of partially-aided Tamil schools into fully-aided ones.

“The Education Act 1996 stipulates that for a school to become fully-aided, the land on which it stands must belong to the government.

“Currently, only 152 of the 524 Tamil schools are fully-aided while the other 372 are partially-aided,” Rajendran said.

On the development of seven new schools, he said SJKT Paya Besar in Kedah was 70 percent completed while the construction of six others would begin this year.

Since 2009, the government has allocated RM440 million to build new SJKTs and to improve the conditions at nearly 400 such schools nationwide.

Besides receiving allocations and grants from the government, Rajendran said the panel suggested that a trust fund be set up, similar to the Singapore Indian Development Association’s, which aimed to support education through groups’ and individuals’ monthly contributions.

More than 450 stakeholders will participate at the national conference in Kuala Lumpur this Friday and Saturday.

- Bernama