Thrown out of school because they were 'foreigners'

Is it a matter of inhumanity or blind observance to the letter of the law? Or in this case, a birth certificate.

Two primary school boys, Merannto and Sri Gunawan, were literally thrown out of their Tamil language school in Kuala Lumpur because they were considered foreigners.

On Tuesday, both brothers, aged eight and seven, were told to surrender their text books and leave the school they had been attending in Sri Segambut.

The elder boy has been attending classes for a year in the school while the younger one was enrolled early this year.

According to Merannto, class teacher Lilli Puspam and headmistress VR Taiyanayakai told them that they could not attend SRJK (T) Sri Segambut anymore because they were foreigners.

"Who asked you to come to school? Go stand at the pondok (guard house) outside," Lilli was alleged to have told the brothers.

Born in Malaysia

As foreign sounding their names are, the brothers were actually born in Malaysia to a Malaysian father.

Their father Arjunan Katervaloo had married an Indonesian woman Narti in a traditional ceremony prior to their birth.

But due to her nationality, they didn't register their marriage with the National Registration Department until February 2005.

Arjunan, 56, said that they were in the midst of applying for the two to enter a local school.

Armed with documents from the Ministry of Education (Federal Territory) dated 31 Dec, 2007, Arjunan said it was very harsh of the authorities to throw his sons out of shool.

"We've already applied to the relevant authorities to rectify this and all we needed was a little compassion from the school," said the odd job labourer.

"While the delay by the Ministry of Education has complicated the situation, still my sons should not have been thrown out of school," he told Malaysiakini.

The nationality in the birth certificates of Merannto and Sri Gunawan are noted as non-Malaysian despite Arjunan's nationality.