MIC president S Samy Vellu's vision to build a medical college was applauded by some 600 young recruits of 'graduate' Indians and others.

Samy Vellu, after the success story of Tafe college, has been working extremely hard to realise his goal to set up a campus up north, to address the so-called plight of the Indians and other underprivileged students.

The odds stacked against him is like an impossible mission. The cost of the land, construction, setting up a college with the infrastructure to handle the preparation of students, laboratories, academic and research staff, resources, libraries, medical equipment, hostels and the like, is overwhelming. But once Samy Vellu decides, he goes all out to accomplish his goal.

But is this the right priority in meeting the educational needs of the Indian Malaysian community?

The Indians' greatest concern is the issue of serious weaknesses in Tamil school education. Statistics point out that about 200,000 Indian children get enrolled in primary education every year, half of whom are enrolled in Tamil schools.

A statistical comparison done in 1999, showed that about 15,000 Indian children between the ages of 7 and 12 are not enrolled in the school system. This is something like for every 13 children in primary school, one Indian child is not there.

Further, the number of Indian children in secondary schools is only about 90,000. Allowing for some percentage reduction based on population growth, this number implies a drop-out rate of almost 50 percent from the primary school system to the secondary school system.

As such there are three major issues here that confront one's conscience.

Firstly, what is happening to the 15,000 children who are not in the school system? Is this colossal number of children withering to become the unproductive manpower of the country? This is a potential loss to the nation which eventually comes back as an increase in social cost.

Secondly, the performance of children in Tamil schools is shocking. The achievement rate is below all other vernacular schools, mainly due to their disadvantaged socio-economic situation and the poor set-up of the school system and its ethos.

Thirdly, the drastic drop-out rate in between primary school to the secondary level. Almost 50 percent of the children who enter primary schools do not finish the Form Five. What happens to them?

In addressing all the above issues, one must take into consideration that the Indians are still largely in the lower income category. The Eighth Malaysia Plan places about 65 percent of the Indians in the lower income group, ranging from clerks to daily-paid plantation workers.

Samy Vellu's vision of a medical college, without doubt will help the Malaysians as a whole. But the establishment of such a college does not address the underlying issues of the poor educational performance of the Indians, especially in the Tamil schools. At this rate, the medical college will not be able to enrol more than a handful of deserving and bright Indian students from Tamil schools and urban poor. It will only benefit the privileged and the well-to-do.

He should give greater emphasis and spend considerable energy to uplift the standards of the Tamil schools and to reduce the alarming incidence of drop-outs.

Pending the above, Samy Vellu's medical college is wrong prescription for the present illness.