Time to set up an independent committee to investigate complaints in SJKCs

Time to set up an independent committee to investigate complaints in SJKCs

By Stephen Ng

A girl was molested and after four months, the case was still not reported and acted upon by the Ministry of Education.

In another case, a headmaster of a Chinese school was operating a second bank account illegally, but in the investigation report, the school claimed that the second account was set up by the Board of Governors.

A case, which I was handling where the headmistress of a Chinese school recorded on video a forced confession by a bully victim, has still not been resolved yet despite numerous complaints raised at different level of the ministry.

The principals of Chinese primary schools continue to load the children with all kinds of resource books and workbooks. This is despite the ministry’s directive last year to stop loading the children with more workbooks.

My son, who is in Standard Four this year, has a total of 426 pages for just one language subject that he has to study. In short, apart from the school textbook, there were two other workbooks and two resource books.

Other children had to buy another two workbooks because they were attending their additional classes. By year end, the teachers had to rush through the final chapters of the syllabus.

All through the years, despite complaints being raised with the District Offices and State Education Departments by parents and parents’ group, Jiazhong, the outcome of the investigation often raises ire.

For example, how can the Board of Governors operate a bank account registered under the school’s name? How can a principal record a bully victim and blame him for the bully case? How much can primary school children absorb when they have 426 pages to study for just one subject?

Additional tuition class in my son’s school is charged RM250 per student per term. In a year, it will cost RM500 per student. I am told that the school teachers are teaching from the school syllabus if they cannot finish the syllabus in class. A lot of their time is wasted collecting money on behalf of the school bookshop and the Parent-Teacher Association.

After spending six months as Minister of Education, Dr Maszlee Malik should now be more focused on solving issues on the ground. These issues have been highlighted to his attention, and from Day One, I have urged him to set up an independent committee to look into the complaints involving the Chinese primary schools.

Six months have passed and all the advices have fallen on deaf ears; instead, he was talking about black and white shoes, swimming lessons, being president of Islamic International University (IIUM) and granting certificates for tahfiz schools.

What really upset me is that complaints raised by parents have yet to be resolved. Some of the parents I know have even threatened to remove their children from national type schools to put them into private and international schools, as they no longer have confidence in the Ministry of Education. They have lost confidence even in Maszlee as the new minister.

Corruption and abuse of school funds by school administrators and PIBGs is a big problem with the Chinese primary schools. The minister, his secretary-general and director-general’s performance is judged by their ability to solve the issues on the ground.

It is time for Dr Maszlee to set up an independent committee to investigate the number of cases that have been piling up in Chinese primary schools. He should no longer depend on the investigators at the ministry, especially since they are proven to be ineffective in solving issues.

In order to help him solve the problems on ground level, there needs to be a big reshuffle at all three levels. Underperforming State Education directors and their subordinates at both state and district levels have to be hauled up for their failure to solve the complaints by parents. If need to, they have to be transferred out, so that new people can take over.

I find it amusing that the deputy minister, Teo Nie Ching is unable to obtain information that she had asked for when she wrote on my behalf when she was a member of the Opposition last year. Till now, the ministry officials are still giving her and her staff on the runaround. 

If Dr Maszlee continues to take things lightly at the implementation level, we will never see a total overhaul of our education system.