Schools close to home the best: Kua
Zakiah KoyaPublished: Jan 23, 2001 9:07 AM | Updated: Jan 29, 2008 6:21 PM
Politicians who argue that the minority should give way to the majority in the SJK (C) Damansara issue have missed out on basic educational policies and trivialised the principles of democracy, a human rights activist said today.
Suaram chairman Dr Kua Kia Soong said the trend should be for children to be schooled as close to their homes as possible.
"This is so that our children are given quality education in smaller schools, instead of sending them to already congested schools or into Vision Schools," he said.
Kua cited examples in developed countries such as the United Kingdom where children in "catchment areas" are given priority over those outside that catchment area.
"The preferred solution would be to split such highly congested schools into smaller schools; not combining such a school with two other schools into one big Vision school," he said, calling the latter solution "a recipe for educational disaster".
"Although the population of the Chinese and Tamils in this country has doubled since Independence, the number of Chinese and Tamil primary schools has actually dropped.
"While there were 1,350 Chinese schools and 888 Tamil schools in 1957, there are now only 1,283 Chinese primary schools and 535 Tamil schools.
"In areas of concentrated Chinese populations such as Johor Baru, Wangsa Maju, Petaling Jaya and Subang, the education ministry has not built any new Chinese schools even though there have been numerous memoranda by the community over the years," he said.
Kua said that it is difficult to justify bureaucratic obstacles when the government claims to be forging a new initiative in Malaysian education for the new century.
"There can only be political reasons for the government not to build new SJK schools," said Kua, who also questioned the number of vernacular schools built under Section 28 of the Education Act 1996.
Highway factor
Meanwhile, Kua also condemned the authorities for not consulting the Section 17 community on the adjacent Sprint Highway before it was built.
The Education Ministry directed the students of SJK (C) Damansara to move to SJK (C) Puay Chai (2) early this year, citing congestion, pollution and the heavy traffic hazard of the Sprint Highway.
Kua said that there would have been more opposition to these "misconceived constructions" if not for the authoritarian rule in this country.
"For the first time, the authorities are talking about the polluting effects of these city highways.
"Are we to believe that the authorities will now reconsider all the highway constructions in progress or are we to expect that all existing kampung, new villages or townships alongside the highways be marked for evacuation?" asked Kua.
He said despite all the justifications by the authorities for the move, the simple reality was that developers are after the land on which these vernacular schools stood.
Kua also said that beside vernacular school sites, there were also cemetery sites that were being eyed by developers.
"This explains why the Vision Schools and the Guangdong Cemetery controversies have involved people at the very top. An example of 'profit before people'," said Kua.
Suaram chairman Dr Kua Kia Soong said the trend should be for children to be schooled as close to their homes as possible.
"This is so that our children are given quality education in smaller schools, instead of sending them to already congested schools or into Vision Schools," he said.
Kua cited examples in developed countries such as the United Kingdom where children in "catchment areas" are given priority over those outside that catchment area.
"The preferred solution would be to split such highly congested schools into smaller schools; not combining such a school with two other schools into one big Vision school," he said, calling the latter solution "a recipe for educational disaster".
"Although the population of the Chinese and Tamils in this country has doubled since Independence, the number of Chinese and Tamil primary schools has actually dropped.
"While there were 1,350 Chinese schools and 888 Tamil schools in 1957, there are now only 1,283 Chinese primary schools and 535 Tamil schools.
"In areas of concentrated Chinese populations such as Johor Baru, Wangsa Maju, Petaling Jaya and Subang, the education ministry has not built any new Chinese schools even though there have been numerous memoranda by the community over the years," he said.
Kua said that it is difficult to justify bureaucratic obstacles when the government claims to be forging a new initiative in Malaysian education for the new century.
"There can only be political reasons for the government not to build new SJK schools," said Kua, who also questioned the number of vernacular schools built under Section 28 of the Education Act 1996.
Highway factor
Meanwhile, Kua also condemned the authorities for not consulting the Section 17 community on the adjacent Sprint Highway before it was built.
The Education Ministry directed the students of SJK (C) Damansara to move to SJK (C) Puay Chai (2) early this year, citing congestion, pollution and the heavy traffic hazard of the Sprint Highway.
Kua said that there would have been more opposition to these "misconceived constructions" if not for the authoritarian rule in this country.
"For the first time, the authorities are talking about the polluting effects of these city highways.
"Are we to believe that the authorities will now reconsider all the highway constructions in progress or are we to expect that all existing kampung, new villages or townships alongside the highways be marked for evacuation?" asked Kua.
He said despite all the justifications by the authorities for the move, the simple reality was that developers are after the land on which these vernacular schools stood.
Kua also said that beside vernacular school sites, there were also cemetery sites that were being eyed by developers.
"This explains why the Vision Schools and the Guangdong Cemetery controversies have involved people at the very top. An example of 'profit before people'," said Kua.
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